Overview

• On April 22, 2025, militants in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, killed 26 tourists in a brutal terror attack.
• Survivors report being coerced to recite the Kalma, a sacred Islamic declaration of faith, to prove their Muslim identity.
• Victims who failed to recite the Kalma, including Shubham Dwivedi and Sushil Nathaniel, were executed, while some who succeeded were spared.
• The Kalma, central to Islamic belief, is intended as a personal affirmation of faith, and its forced use violates Islamic teachings forbidding compulsion in religion.
• The attack has reignited discussions on the misuse of religious texts in acts of violence, as investigations into the incident continue.