The terrorist attack on innocent civilians in Pahalgam, Kashmir, is being condemned universally. The tourist hotspot in Pahalgam on Tuesday was witness to one of the biggest terror strikes that Kashmir has seen in recent times. The victims were citizens from across the country, from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the south to Arunachal Pradesh in the east to Uttar Pradesh in the north, among others. Indians on social media from across the globe have asked the government to take strong action in the form of destroying the launchpads of terrorists.
Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez reacted on the incident. "Sad and heartbroken."
People involved in the dastardly terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam will get a strong response in the "near future" and India cannot be "intimidated" by any such terrorist activities, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday. His remarks in an address at an event came a day after 26 people were killed by terrorists in Pahalgam in an attack that triggered wide-spread outrage within India and abroad.
"From this platform, I assure the countrymen that in view of the incident, the government of India will take every step that is necessary and appropriate," Singh said.
"And we will not only trace those who perpetrated this incident. We will also reach out to those who, sitting behind the scenes, have conspired to carry out the nefarious act on the soil of India," he said.
The defence minister said "India is such an old civilization and such a big country that it cannot be intimidated by any such terrorist activities." "The people responsible for such acts will get a strong response in the near future," he asserted.
Singh described the attack in Pahalgam as "extremely inhuman" that has "left all of us in deep grief and pain". "I would like to reiterate India's firm resolve that we have a zero tolerance policy against terrorism," he said. Every citizen of India is united against this cowardly act, he added.
With PTI inputs