Top news of the day: PM Modi says Pahalgam attack perpetrators will be ‘punished beyond their imagination’; Pakistan says attempts by India to stop Indus water will be seen as ‘act of war’, and more

Pahalgam attack: PM Modi says perpetrators will be ‘punished beyond their imagination’; Pakistan says attempts by India to stop Indus water will be seen as ‘act of war’, and more in The Hindu’s top news of April 24, 2025.

Addressing a public rally in Bihar’s Madhubani district on Thursday (April 24, 2025), two days after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in which at least 26 people were killed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphatically said that those responsible for the “terrorist attack and their conspirators will be punished beyond their imagination”. “They will be punished”, he reiterated.

A day after India decided to hold the Indus Water Treaty at abeyance, Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office said any such attempt would be seen as an “act of war”. The country also announced a series of retaliatory actions including blocking its airspace for India and suspension of all trade activities. Pakistan’s National Security Committee comprising top civilian and military leadership held its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday (April 24, 2025).

Days after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in which 26 people – mostly tourists – were killed, reports of Kashmiri students being assaulted and harassed have emerged from States such as Punjab and Uttarakhand, according to the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA). Taking the incidents into account, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the government was in touch with his counterparts in the States where such reports have emerged.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi on Thursday (April 24, 2025) to brief her about the deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, ahead of a scheduled all-party meeting.

An Army soldier was killed in an encounter between security forces and militants following a search operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district on Thursday (April 24, 2025), officials said. The firing took place in Dudu-Basantgarh area during a cordon and search operation which was launched based on information about the presence of terrorists, they said.

The Congress Working Committee has sought a comprehensive analysis on “the intelligence failures and security lapses” that led to the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 21, 2025, that led to the killing of 26 people, mostly tourists. The party also blamed Pakistan for “masterminding” the Pahalgam terror attack.

The Supreme Court on Thursday (April 24, 2025) said it will commence final hearing on May 6 and 7 on the appeals filed by the Gujarat Government and several other convicts in the 2002 Godhra train burning case. A Bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Rajesh Bindal asked senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for one of the convicts, to file a revised compilation of his submissions containing “heading-wise” details on charges against the convict, the findings of the Courts below and his arguments supported by materials on record to counter them by May 3.