Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday posted a message on X remembering those killed in the Pahalgam attack in 2025, but did not mention Operation Sindoor, the disastrous military campaign India later launched against Pakistan. 

On April 22, 2025, gunmen opened fire on tourists in Pahalgam, a resort area in Indian Illegally Occupied Azad Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), killing 26 people, most of them visitors from different Indian states, along with one Nepali national. 

India blamed Pakistan for the attack without presenting public evidence, and weeks later, on May 6-7, launched Operation Sindoor with a series of strikes it said targeted militant infrastructure inside Pakistani territory. 

Pakistan stated that the strikes hit civilian areas, mosques, and residential neighbourhoods.

Pakistan rejected the accusations and termed the escalation baseless, responding with Operation Bunyan-ul-Marsoos on May 10 after Indian strikes on May 6 and 7 targeted civilian areas, mosques and infrastructure inside Pakistan.

A year on, Modi’s post made no mention of any of it.

“Remembering the innocent lives lost in the gruesome Pahalgam terror attack on this day last year. They will never be forgotten,” he wrote, adding that India would “never bow to any form of terror”.

A large number of users- predominantly Pakistani- questioned why, twelve months later, India had not produced a single piece of evidence linking Pakistan to the attack. “You’re crying from last one year same like this and you didn’t provide the evidence,” one user wrote.

Others went further, calling the attack a staged event timed around Indian state elections. “This is not a new thing whenever any state election comes, there’s always a false-flag operation,” one commenter noted, pointing to the Indian military’s heavy footprint in IIOJK  and asking how gunmen still managed to enter a heavily fortified tourist zone undetected.

The conversation around Operation Sindoor itself was pointed. Several users brought up the losses India sustained during the escalation. “Bro lost 6 jets in just 2 hours. Bro started to isolate, ending up isolated itself. Bro became a joker and Pakistan became a peacemaker,” read one reply that circulated widely.


Another user flipped the narrative on its head entirely. “Target was Pakistan, result was Pakistan trending worldwide. Modi ji’s strategy for Pakistan turned into unintentionally brilliant marketing. Thanks, Modi ji,” they wrote.

Some questioned the anniversary post itself, specifically what it left out. “Where is your ‘Garam Sindoor’? When you complete the Operation Sindoor? This is a big question in the heart of their respective family,” one user asked, appearing to address the families still waiting for answers on the military operation Modi did not name.

“The mastermind is disguising himself as a sympathizer. To date, India has provided zero evidence of Pakistan’s involvement. No one in the world has blamed Pakistan for Pahalgam,” another commenter wrote.


Not all the criticism came from Pakistan. Several Indian users also pushed back. “Yet you failed to identify how they entered India. Why do Intelligence agencies fail to detect them? You failed this nation,” one Indian user wrote.


Another added: “If it wasn’t a false flag, then it must have been an inside job, but you used it for your political gain. Shame on you”.

One user summed up what many in the replies appeared to feel: “1 year no evidence, not a single terrorist caught, but yes Pakistan did it for sure”.