Many jihadists, building on the Palestinian model, increasingly see Kashmir as prime land to conquer: the next great cause for global jihad. Pictured: Indian security forces in Kashmir inspect the site of a jihadist terrorist attack carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), in which 40 Indian troops were killed, on February 14, 2019. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

In June 2026, Pakistani paramilitary forces opened fire on protesters in... Kashmir. The protesters were not armed rebels. They were ordinary Muslim residents — traders, students, lawyers, transport workers and women — demanding cheaper electricity, affordable wheat flour and fairer treatment from the authorities that rule them.

Sit-ins drew more than 70,000 people chanting "Pak Forces Out." What began as an economic protest gradually became a broader challenge to Pakistan's administration of the territory.

For nearly eight decades, the "two-nation theory" has provided the moral and political framework through which Pakistan has justified its authority over Kashmir. The Muslim crowds in Kashmir chanting "Pak Forces Out," however, have delivered their verdict on that claim. What made the protests politically significant was not their scale, but their target: Muslim Kashmiris rising against Pakistan itself.

[T]he Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)... has an established mechanism for addressing the Kashmir dispute.... The OIC's selective outrage — loud on India, silent on Pakistan's abuses — exposes its hypocrisy.

Despite Pakistan's persistent claim that it is the rightful protector of Kashmiri Muslims and that the Indian-administered portion also belongs to it, Muslims in Pakistan-administered Kashmir are openly rejecting this narrative, telling Pakistan that it is not their protector -- that they are better off without its rule. This is particularly striking given that Muslims in Indian-administered Kashmir enjoy greater political rights, economic opportunities, and development compared to those living under Pakistani administration.

By bravely confronting the very state that claims to embody Muslim "purity" and protection, the Kashmiri Muslim protesters have dismantled the moral foundation of Pakistan's narrative from within.

While jihadists, with Pakistan's active encouragement, have been attempting to turn Kashmir into the next major jihadist stronghold and battlefield against non-Muslims after Gaza, the voices of Kashmiri Muslims chanting against Pakistani forces have been rejecting the idea. The founding myth of Pakistan as the "pure" Islamic homeland and true representative and protector of Kashmiri Muslims has visibly collapsed.