New Delhi: India on Tuesday strongly condemned the terror attack on a school in Pakistan in which at least 124 children were killed, calling it barbaric, a senseless act of “unspeakable brutality” and manifestation of “extreme evil”.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and leaders of several parties spoke in one voice to assert that there will be no justification for terrorism.
Child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, who received the Nobel Peace Prize just a week back along with Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai, termed the massacre by Taliban militants in Peshawar as “one of the darkest days of humanity”. He offered himself to the terrorists if they were ready to free the children taken hostage.
Hitting out at the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan which has claimed responsibility for the attack, Omar said they have converted the school into a “killing field”.
“My heart goes out to everyone who lost their loved ones today. We share their pain & offer our deepest condolences.
“Strongly condemn the cowardly terrorist attack at a school in Peshawar. It is a senseless act of unspeakable brutality that has claimed lives of the most innocent of human beings – young children in their school,” Modi tweeted.
The External Affairs Ministry said no words will capture the feeling of deep revulsion and horror we feel about this attack against innocent children.
“It was not just innocent children who have been massacred today, but the very conception of humanity.
“We hope the almighty gives them the courage and fortitude to bear their irreparable loss. There never has been, nor will there ever be, a justification for terrorism. Our hearts go out to the grief-stricken families of the innocent children killed and injured in this barbaric attack in Peshawar,” the Official Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry Syed Akbaruddin said.
President Mukherjee, who is under treatment at am Army hospital here, said such heinous acts are against all tenets of humanity.
“They are nothing but a manifestation of the extreme evil that terrorists are capable of. The world community must unite and redouble efforts to root out terrors from every country and society,” he said in his condolence message.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said this dastardly and inhuman attack exposes the real face of terrorism.
In a series of tweets, Omar said, “What terrible, heart breaking images of the attack in #Peshawar. Inhuman and barbaric don’t even begin to describe the perpetrators.”
“What terrible, heart breaking images of the attack in #Peshawar. Inhuman and barbaric don’t even begin to describe the perpetrators,” Omar tweeted.
Lashing out at the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan which has claimed responsibility for the attack, Omar said they have converted the school into a killing field.
“Schools are supposed to be places of sanctuary & today these Godless animals have converted one in to a killing field.”
“This barbaric act has caused universal outrage and painfully underscores the threat posed by organized terrorist groups to humankind,” Congress President Sonia Gandhi said.
The Chief Minister also criticised people who were of the opinion that Pakistan was getting what it deserved.
“And to my fellow countrymen who say Pakistan got what it deserves – SHAME ON YOU. They are children likes yours and mine,” he added.
Meanwhile, Omar’s National Conference strongly condemned the attack on the army school in Peshawar.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has condemned the terror attack , saying such act is not only against Pakistan but also against the world.
The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said, “I strongly condemn the inhuman and brutal act of terrorists on a school in Peshwar…,” Azad told reporters here.
“The type of terrorist act is not only against Pakistan but also against the world. India is one which always opposes such type terrorism in the country and outside the country,” he said.
Azad said the act should be condemned across the world and culprits should be nabbed and hanged to death.
PDP condemned the killings, describing it as the worst form of barbarism.
“We strongly condemn the attack on an army school in Pakistan. It is the worst form of barbarism, crime against humanity,” PDP President and MP Mehbooba Mufti told reporters.
“Atrocity of this proportion should outrage the feelings of every human being,” Mehbooba said.
Strongly condemning the attack, she said “my heart and thoughts go out with the parents and families of children who have lost their lives in the attack carried in Peshawar.”
Mehbooba said such attacks are crime against the entire humanity and must be condemned in strongest words.
“This is the worst crime that could have been perpetrated against humanity. Such attacks are sources of shame,” she said.
