India, May 5 -- In the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack that took 26 lives, public discourse has sharply diverged between calls for unity and a turn toward communal framing, with the former being rapidly surpassed and suppressed by the latter. While authorities moved quickly to attribute the assault to Pakistan linked militants, some official statements and media commentary have risked casting suspicion on entire communities rather than focusing squarely on security and accountability.

Some senior BJP ministers have suggested that a deficit of "nationalism" among certain groups contributes to recurring terror incidents-remarks aimed at shifting attention from reported intelligence gaps at Baisaran meadow to suggestive questions of collec...