Pahalgam terror attack exposed a hard truth: Hindus have no institutional infrastructure to protect their own civilizational interests. Ashish Dhar, a Kashmiri Pandit and founder of Upword, delivers a sober, unflinching post-Pahalgam analysis that goes far beyond reactive outrage.Dhar argues that most Hindus falsely believed the abrogation of Article 370 “solved” Kashmir, while the ground reality remained unchanged. He challenges Kashmiri Pandit organizations for “playing 5D chess” with the Indian government instead of building independent institutional power — what he calls a “Hindu deep state.”The core argument is that religious, cultural, and civilizational survival cannot be outsourced to a secular republic. Hindus must build their own financial networks, media ecosystems, legal support structures, and political lobbying capacity — just as every other global civilizational bloc has done. A rare call-to-action talk that demands clarity of thought over feel-good nationalism.

About the Speaker:
Ashish Dhar is the co-founder of Pragyata and Upword Foundation and the Director of Operations at The Indic Collective Trust. He writes on History, Kashmir, Culture and Religion.