As the news of the Pahalgam terror attack spread, several panel discussions took place on various news channels across the country. Among them was a discussion on Thanthi TV titled “Kashmir terror attack: Is it a threat to national security?” .
The panel included retired army officer Lt Col Thiagarajan, Congress spokie Lakshmi Ramachandran, BJP’s Shrikanth, and a political analyst named Ponraj.
Lakshmi Ramachandran
All through the video Lakshmi Ramachandran peddled the same narrative that she has been posting on her X handle. This is what she wrote after news of the attack started circulating on social media and news platforms.
In her post, she wrote, “Attack by Pakistani terrorists on innocent tourists in Pehalgam is extremely disturbing. The way Godi media is reporting the ghastly attack, treading a careful line lest they displease Modi-Shah, is highly irritating. They are making this a Hindu-Muslim issue to please their bosses. They are claiming that the terrorists made sure that the victims were Hindus before shooting them down. Some of the victims are Tamils and Telugus we hear. How the hell will Pakistani terrorists distinguish between a Tamil Muslim and Tamil Hindu? Shame on you Godi media. You have no humanity left in you. INDIANS were killed and the perpetrators should not be spared.”
Attack by Pakistani terrorists on innocent tourists in Pehalgam is extremely disturbing.
The way Godi media is reporting the ghastly attack, treading a careful line lest they displease Modi-Shah, is highly irritating.
They are making this a Hindu-Muslim issue to please their…
— Lakshmi Ramachandran (@laksr_tn) April 22, 2025
She continued to blame the Modi government for security lapse and questioned why when Article 370 has been abrogated why terrorism is still causing a nuisance in the valley. She blamed the centre for being “careless”.
When she was questioned about the Congress’ actions after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, very coolly she said, “Don’t indulge in whataboutery.”
Towards the end, she said, “Instead of doing some eyewash activities like surgical strikes, we must bring the perpetrators to justice.” She further added, “Instead of acting under pressure, with no knee-jerk reactions, the terrorists must be identified and killed.”
When another panelist Lt Col Thiagarajan called out her calling the surgical strikes a scam/sham, she started screaming and said, “PM was the one who politicised Pulwama.”
Maybe Lakshmi Ramachandran has no idea what a surgical strike means or probably she is peddling the same narrative her political masters did when the aftermath of the Uri attack and the Pulwama attacks which resulted in two surgical strikes inside Pakistani territory by the Indian Armed Forces. Her political master ie, Rahul Gandhi and his minions called the surgical strike a sham and demanded proof of it.
Panelist Ponraj
While he came across as giving his expert opinion, he seemed to be conveying what was already in the news and started blaming the centre for a security lapse, a stance very similar to Lakshmi Ramachandran’s.
What was even more shocking was he was parroting the same lines as in the Dravidianist YouTuber Senthil’s video where he talks about an alleged “BJP connection” to the terror attack.
In Senthil’s video, he brings up 2022 news items where a BJP member was found to be an LeT terrorist, some news about honeytraps and how information got leaked.
காஷ்மீர் பயங்கரவாத இயக்கத்தில் பாஜக நிர்வாகி… ஆதாரங்களுடன் சங்கிகளின் முகத்திரை கிழித்த வீடியோ அனைவரும் பகிருங்கள் pic.twitter.com/vh5gqoV6Vz
— Senthil (@Senthilvel79) April 23, 2025
In this panel discussion, Ponraj also peddled the same lies, he was seen reading out these lines from some notes – all that he mentioned were only sounding like WhatsApp forwards and part of a larger narrative to blame BJP and Modi for the terror attack.
Sinister 2025 Pahalgam Hindu Massacre Leaves 28 Dead, Dozens Injured in Kashmir
On 22 April 2025, militants carried out a brutal attack in the scenic Baisaran meadow near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district, killing at least 28 people and injuring more than 20 others. The assault, one of the deadliest in the region since the 2019 Pulwama bombing, was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot. Indian officials condemned the incident as a terrorist act, with evidence suggesting the attackers aimed to resist alleged demographic shifts in the Kashmir Valley.
The Attack
Around 2:50 PM, between four and six armed militants disguised in military-style clothing emerged from the nearby forest and opened fire on a crowd of tourists enjoying the clear weather after days of rain. Survivors recounted that the attackers initially posed as security personnel, asking victims for their names and religious identity before launching a targeted assault.
Eyewitnesses reported that the militants singled out non-Muslims by demanding that individuals recite the Islamic kalma and checking for circumcision—those who failed were executed. Most of the victims were men. In a chilling account, a gunman reportedly spared a woman, telling her she was being left alive to “tell Prime Minister Modi what happened here.”
Graphic videos circulated online showed blood-soaked victims lying across the meadow, with terrified survivors pleading for help. Emergency responders quickly arrived, transporting the wounded to nearby hospitals, with some critically injured individuals airlifted to a military hospital in Srinagar.
Casualties
The attack claimed the lives of 28 civilians, including:
-
24 Indian tourists from states like Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat, Haryana, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh,
-
2 locals from Jammu and Kashmir, and
-
2 foreign nationals from Nepal and the UAE.
Among the deceased were a 26-year-old Indian Navy officer and an Intelligence Bureau official. Over 20 others were seriously injured, hailing from Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.
Security forces swiftly launched a joint search and cordon operation, involving the Indian Army and local police. Helicopters were deployed to track the militants, and a temporary lockdown was imposed in parts of Pahalgam.
The Resistance Front (TRF), which operates under the umbrella of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility. In a statement, the group justified the attack by accusing the Indian government of settling over 85,000 “outsiders” in the region, allegedly attempting to alter the valley’s demographic makeup.
Despite widespread media coverage and survivor testimonies confirming that victims were forced to strip and recite the Islamic kalma to determine if they were Hindu or Muslim—with threats of being shot otherwise—Tamil Nadu Congress spokesperson Lakshmi Ramachandran chose to downplay the communal nature of the attack. By insisting it was merely a generic act of terrorism, not one specifically targeting Hindus, she appeared to be prioritizing political optics and vote-bank considerations over acknowledging the truth.
PM Modi’s Clarion Call
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing a gathering in Bihar’s Madhubani, strongly condemned the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26, including 25 tourists and a local. Starting with a silent tribute, he declared the entire nation is united in grief and anger. Modi emphasized that the attack was not just on innocent people but on India’s soul, vowing that the perpetrators and their backers would face unimaginable punishment.
In a global message, he asserted that India will pursue terrorists to the ends of the earth and will not let terrorism go unpunished. The Prime Minister cut short his Saudi Arabia visit and chaired a high-level security meeting, following which India initiated diplomatic action against Pakistan—suspending the Indus Water Treaty, halting SAARC visa exemptions, reducing the Pakistani High Commission’s staff, and closing the Attari check post. Modi thanked world leaders for their solidarity and reaffirmed India’s resolve to crush terrorism.
Subscribe to our channels on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.