The calls for an "Israel-like" response emerged after a tragic attack on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, when gunmen opened fire on tourists near central Pahalgam, killing at least 26 people, including Indian, Italian, and Israeli nationals, and injuring 13 others. A group called the "Resistance Front," reportedly affiliated with Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility, though these claims remain unverified. Despite footage showing Kashmiri locals protecting tourists during the attack—one local, Adil Hussain Shah, was killed while attempting to disarm a gunman—public and media reactions in India have primarily focused on vengeance. Social media and prominent figures have invoked Israel's ongoing war on Gaza, where over 51,000 Palestinians have been killed, as a model for retaliation. Professor Mohamad Junaid from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts told Middle East Eye that the rhetoric amplified by the Hindu right-wing mirrors anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian narratives from the West.
High-profile voices, including the US-based Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN), have called for "flattening Kashmir like Gaza." At the same time, journalist Arnab Goswami on Republic World likened the attack to October 7 for Israel, stating, "April 22 is to India what October 7 was to the Israelis." Similarly, Indian columnist Sanjay Dixit on Jaipur Dialogues urged the "destruction of Pakistan" and continuous surgical strikes, advocating the "Israel model" to "finish Pakistan once and for all." This rhetoric extends beyond social media and talk shows into mainstream Indian media and law enforcement.
Zee News described Israeli Ambassador Reuven Azar's response as coming from India's "closest friend." At the same time, former Jammu and Kashmir police chief S.P. Vaid insisted, "We must respond like Israel," as the Hindi newspaper Jagran reported. Retired Indian army general MM Naravane, in an opinion piece for The Print, called for India to "bare its fangs" and borrow Israeli tactics.
The ideological alignment between India and Israel is not new. Lawyer and author Suchitra Vijayan explained to Middle East Eye that this relationship reflects shared "infrastructures of violence," including surveillance, digital repression, and policing regimes. India, the largest purchaser of Israeli weapons, also deploys Israeli drones and surveillance technologies in Kashmir. Human rights groups have documented parallel tactics—punitive home demolitions, extrajudicial killings, and arbitrary detentions—used by both states. Since the 2019 revocation of Kashmir's special status, India's crackdown on dissent and policies enabling land purchases by non-Kashmiris have fueled fears of settler-colonial projects akin to those in Israel.
As reported by Maktoob Media, at least 1,500 Kashmiris have been detained since the attack, with Kashmiri students facing violence from Hindu nationalist mobs across India. Social media users and activists express terror over potential retaliation, with one Kashmiri user on X stating, "Israel's tactics have become the blueprint for every fascist occupier. I am terrified of what is about to happen." Experts like Vijayan warn that "Israel's ability to act with impunity has created a global precedent, and India is watching, adopting, and adapting." As tensions spiral, the fear of mass violence looms large over Kashmir and India's Muslim communities.