New Delhi, April 23 -- In the heart of Kashmir, where the air carries the scent of pine and prayers, where rivers glide like glass through valleys older than memory, a wound has torn through our peace.

In Pahalgam's Baisaran Valley--where the mountains kiss the sky with such grace that the people of Switzerland might believe they have a piece of Kashmir at home--terror walked in with bullets, not boots. The land, known for its stillness and sacred calm, echoed with the crack of gunfire. What began as a quiet afternoon, wrapped in the hush of holiday laughter, became a symphony of screams.

At least twenty-six lives were taken. Tourists--mothers, fathers, children--had come in peace. They came to rest, to rejoice, to breathe. And they wer...