New Delhi:
The heinous terror attack in Pahalgam on innocent tourists was conducted not only to shred the peace in Jammu and Kashmir and destroy its tourism-based economy but also with the bigger motive of unleashing communal riots in the country. The foreign ministry said this today, noting that the terrorists’ plans were foiled because of the government and the people of India.
“The attack was clearly driven by the objective of undermining the normalcy returning to Jammu & Kashmir. In particular, it was designed to impact the mainstay of the economy, tourism, with a record 23 million tourists visiting the valley last year,’ the foreign ministry said today.
“The calculation, presumably, was that harming growth and development in the Union Territory would help keep it backward and create fertile ground for continued cross-border terrorism from Pakistan,’ the ministry said.
“The manner of the attack was also driven by an objective of provoking communal discord, both in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the nation. It is to the credit of the government and the people of India that these designs were foiled,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said today.
Some eye-witnesses had said the terrorists has shot down men in cold blood in front of their families after confirming their religion. Following the attack, outrage had spread across the country. In Kashmir, where a local man, a ponywalla, died protecting the tourists, people condemned the attack. “Not in my name,” almost became a slogan in the protests that swept Kashmir Valley.
The tourists who lost their husbands and fathers reciprocated, condemning the attack while supporting and applauding the help extended by the common man in Kashmir. Himanshi Narwal, who lost her husband, Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, just six days after the wedding, said, “I see hatred growing, directed at Muslims and Kashmiris. We do not want this. We only wish for peace-nothing else.”
The ministry’s comment came hours after the armed forces conducted the “Operation Sindoor” with missile strikes at terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
Under ‘Operation Sindoor’, the army and the Air Force targeted Markaz Taiba of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke, Markaz Subhan Allah of Jaish-e-Mohammad or JeM in Bahawalpur and Hizbul Mujahideen’s Mehmoona Joya Facility in Sialkot and Lashkar’s base in Markaz Ahle Hadith in Barnala and its camp in Muzaffarabad’s Shawai Nalla. Muridke, located a short distance from Lahore, is home to a sprawling “markaz” or base of the Lashkar.
Sources in the government said 70 terrorists have died and 60 others were injured. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the operation demonstrates the Narendra Modi government’s “zero-tolerance policy against terrorism to the entire world”.
