London, Apr 25: The High Commission of India in the UK held a solemn commemorative ceremony at the India House to remember the victims of the terrorist attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22.

Distinguished guests, including Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs L Murugan, Maharashtra's Minister of Social Justice Sanjay Shirsat, UK Member of Parliament Bob Blackman and several other UK MPs, joined the gathering to express their condolences and support. The presence of UK lawmakers underscored the shared commitment to condemning terrorism and standing united against extremism.

The event brought together members of the Indian diaspora from across the UK, who came to pay their respects and stand in solidarity with the victims and their families. India's High Commissioner to UK, Vikram Doraiswami, addressed the attendees, emphasising the importance of resilience, unity, and justice in the face of such tragedies.

Doraiswami said that the attack was conducted to prevent people of Jammu and Kashmir from carrying out normal day-to-day businesses, to stop them from improving their lives through work and business.

Doraiswami said, "First and foremost, why is this something that is worthy of our attention. It is so because this is the largest killing of civilians since the Mumbai terror attacks. In 2019, there was a similar terror outrage... it was a targeted attack on the paramilitary convoy. In this case, people were pulled out, identified on the basis of their identity, their religious identity and shot dead. These were civilians in the vast majority, and all who were there were just to have a holiday. The purpose of this exercise was purely to create terror and to undermine the ongoing normalisation of circumstances in Jammu and Kashmir."

"The purpose of this exercise was to prevent people of Jammu and Kashmir from carrying out normal day-to-day businesses, to prevent them from improving their lives through business, through work, to intimidate people from coming to this beautiful part of India and to undermine the normalisation of the political process that had been brought into play through the very successful conduct of an election...I can tell you this, you have seen for the last several decades repeated efforts to intimidate, otherwise distract India in its development journey or to try and break the spirit of India and to break the unity of the people of India across language, caste, creed and religion. I can tell you this, it hasn't worked before. It won't work now, it will never work. There are 1.4 billion of us. We are a nation moving forward. We are a nation moving together. We are a nation dealing with our challenges, some left over by history, some left over by acts of our own, but none that will be deterred, no part of our journey that will be deterred by people who believe that killing people is a solution," he added.

Vikram Doraiswami said that people had travelled to Pahalgam to enjoy the holiday and mentioned some of the victims, including a newly married couple and a child. He reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks that India will never forget and forgive, instead, there will be price that will be paid by those who were behind the attack.

He said, "I ask you to remember, however, that these were lives of ordinary people. I ask you to remember that these were lives of people like you and I who seek to spend time with family, to seek to have what everybody believes is their right - the opportunity to travel, opportunity to broaden the mind, the opportunity to spend a few precious moments together in this short journey that we call life. And it was these people for whom that very, very simple, basic opportunity to live was taken away from them. Look, for instance, at the picture of that young lady there. That young lady and her husband were newly married. They were there on their honeymoon. That young child's life, as we do it, for no particular purpose, won't change the tragedy of history. It won't change the art of destiny; we are building that one. It is not going to make a difference."

"Those who believe that they can organise and send people like that, they'll like this across the line of control to create terror, that which was always going to create, all it does is light the lives of the people. And so I ask you to remember in everything that you do that we have no place in our hearts for hatred. We have no place in our minds for enmity. Every one of us is an Indian. No matter what language we speak, where we come from, how we pray, this is our country, and it is not for others to dictate how we will respond. What I can tell you is this: what our Prime Minister said recently, we will never forget, we will never forgive, and we will exact a punishment for this. There will be no commitments. There will be no forgiveness, there will be a price to be paid by the people who committed this act, by the people who planned it and the people who backed it. And there will be nothing in the world that will stop us from doing that. And there will be nothing in the world that will deter us from our mission, no matter where they are, how far they are," he added.

In a post shared on X, the Indian High Commission in the UK stated, "@HCI_London held a solemn commemorative ceremony in memory of those killed in the #PahalgamTerroristAttack and in solidarity with the spirit of India. UK Minister @CatherineWest1, MoS @Murugan_MoS, MPs @BobBlackman & @KanishkaNarayan, Members of @UKHouseofLords @Baroness_Verma, Lord Raval, Maharashtra's Minister of Social Justice Mr. Sanjay Shirsat, and members of the Indian diaspora joined in large numbers to pay their tributes."

According to the official statement, the tribute served as a powerful reminder of the lives lost and the ongoing need to confront acts of terror with resolve and compassion. It also highlighted the strong bonds between the Indian community in the UK and their homeland, as well as the support extended by British leaders in moments of collective mourning.

Terrorists attacked tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on Tuesday, killing 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen while leaving several others injured, in one of the deadliest attacks in the valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.

Following the attack, India has taken strong countermeasures against Pakistan for its support of cross-border terrorism. In the CCS meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday, India decided to hold the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism and has closed the integrated Attari Check Post.

(ANI)

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