Ceasefire in Kashmir after Church prays for peace

US officials, who had had been hesitant to intervene, were forced to act and brokered a ceasefire to end the four-day conflict, in which more than 60 people died.

The Pope prayed for the “miracle of peace” across the world after India and Pakistan agreed a ceasefire in Kashmir.

Fighting began following the massacre of 26 tourists on 22 April in the tourist centre of Pahalgam in India’s northern state of Jammu and Kashmir. The terrorists singled out non-Muslim men from those holidaying in the picturesque town’s Baisaran Valley and shot them at point-blank range in front of their families.

The Indian authorities blamed Pakistan for the attack and launched “Operation Sindoor”, named after the vermilion powder applied by married Hindu women in the parting of their hair as an indicator to their marital status. Most of those killed in Pahalgam were husbands, including a recently married defence officer who was on a honeymoon visit to the Kashmir Valley.

India suspended the Indus Water Treaty, banned entry to Pakistani nationals, halted bilateral trade and closed its airspace to Pakistani flights, among other measures. It also launched airstrikes to to destroy terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan retaliated with drone incursions and shelling across the border.

The situation escalated when an Indian strike hit Nur Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi. The base is not only an important military hub of Pakistan but is also located near its Strategic Plans Division, which manages its nuclear arsenal, The New York Times reported.

US officials, who had had been hesitant to intervene, were forced to act and brokered a ceasefire to end the four-day conflict, in which more than 60 people died. Defence experts said the threat of war had been contained, despite continued incursions by both sides.

On 7 May, Pakistani fired across the Line of Control, dividing Indian and Pakistan territories in Jammu and Kashmir, at the Poonch, Uri, Kupwara, Tangdhar, and Karnah border sectors. At least 10 people, including a woman and two pupils of a Catholic school, were killed in Poonch. Shells fired from across the border fell on the houses of the two pupils of Christ School in Poonch. Their parents were severely injured. The Carmelites of Mary Immaculate who run the school moved to safety, said its principal Fr Shijo Kanjiarathingal.

India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri said: “Several priests, nuns, school staff, and local residents took refuge in an underground hall beneath the Christ School during the shelling by Pakistan. The school happened to be closed at the time, fortunately, otherwise, more losses would have occurred.”

Another shell hit a Christian convent belonging to the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel, causing damage to water tanks and solar panels, Bishop Ivan Pereira of Jammu-Srinagar told The Tablet. He said many nuns and priests and support staff of church-run institutions in the border areas were moved to safety following the attacks.

India’s Catholic bishops appealed to all members of the Church to come together in prayer, with a Day of Prayer marked by Eucharistic Adoration, special prayers during the Mass, and others in homes and communities.

“Let us intercede for the brave soldiers guarding our borders … Let us pray for cessation of all forms of violence, terrorism, and war, and that our national leaders be guided by wisdom, justice, and compassion in their efforts to protect every citizen and usher peace in the region,” they said in a statement.

The head of the Syro-Malabar Church Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil exhorted Catholics and all people of goodwill to come together in prayer for “our beloved country”.

“I invite everyone to unite in prayer for this intention during the celebration of the Holy Qurbana [Mass] tomorrow, Sunday, in all our churches and institutions. In a special manner, let us remember the soldiers on the war front and the people living in the border areas. Let us pray that lasting peace be established between both nations at the earliest.”

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