Oslo, April 27 (IANS) Himanshu Gulati, an Indian origin member of the Norwegian Storting (Parliament), on Sunday condemned the Pahalgam terror attack and expressed the global community’s solidarity with India’s fight against its perpetrators.
“It is with great shock and sadness, we have seen the brutal attack in Pahalgam. I offer my condolences to the victims and also the people in India,” said Gulati, whose parents immigrated to Norway during the 1970s, in a video message.
He also condemned the Pahalgam killings on the basis of religion. “We saw civilians being brutally killed because of their religion,” he said.
“In my own country, Norway, we have been the victim of terrorism and the world has seen the evil, enemies of humanity like ISIS and Al Qaeda and other terror organisations like the ones that have now committed this brutal terror attack in India,” he said.
Gulati described the Pahalgam incident, which claimed 26 lives, as an “attack on humanity”.
“We as the international community and the civilised world must stand together against terrorism and in fighting these evil forces,” he said, reiterating his call to stand together against terror.
Earlier in London, Indian-origin protesters gathered to voice their anger over the terror attack in Pahalgam. Simultaneously, Pakistan supporters assembled outside their country’s High Commission to shout anti-India slogans.
During these dramatic developments, a senior official from the Pakistan Army inflamed tensions by making a throat-slitting gesture towards a crowd of peaceful demonstrators.
Video footage of the offensive gesture, which surfaced online on Saturday morning, quickly went viral and sparked widespread condemnation. Social media erupted with anger, calling the act “sick,” “disgusting,” and a “disturbing reminder of the lack of professionalism among Pakistan’s military and diplomatic representatives.”
Adding to the provocation, the official was seen holding a poster of Indian Air Force Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, using it to mock the Indian protesters.
Captain Abhinandan was captured by Pakistani forces in 2019 after his aircraft went down across the Line of Control. He was released two days later in a gesture that was widely publicised.
–IANS
rch/uk
