Jakarta, May 30 (UNI) Trinamool Congress Leader Abhisek Banerjee, a member of India's all-party Parliamentary delegation, has called upon the people of Indonesia to combat terrorism in all forms, as the menace is not restricted to a particular region but has spread globally.
He said the Indian Parliamentary party delegation was in Indonesia to share the message of how to combat terrorism and highlighted Pakistan’s role in the ghastly attack in Pahalgam on April 22.
"Pakistan has been nurturing, training, sheltering, and harbouring terrorists. Terrorism has become a global menace, and killing people in the name of religion is completely unacceptable," the TMC general secretary said.
"We were attacked on 22nd April. We waited patiently for 14 days for Pakistan to bring the perpetrators to justice. When they failed, India carried out precise, non-escalatory airstrikes, targeting only terrorist infrastructure. No civilian life was endangered, " Banerjee pointed out in the context of Operation Sindoor against the terror dens.
He said terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who was caught red-handed by Indian law enforcement agencies during the 26/11 attack, had admitted to being trained and nurtured in Pakistan.
But this time India successfully neutralised the very place where such terrorists are trained. Banerjee said and called upon the assembled people to unite and fight the menace of terrorism.
"We visited Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, meeting various key stakeholders and everyone shared the opinion that they must combat terrorism jointly as this is not just India’s issue — it has become a global imperative," Banerjee said.
In Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, gunmen shot dead 25 tourists and a local pony owner after they picked them up based on faith, and killed all males in front of their wives and relatives.
"Despite attempts by external forces to divide us, our country stands united, and this is the first time in a very, very long time that our country has decided to send multiple delegations to different parts of the world to spread the message to fight terrorism unitedly," Banerjee said.
He said India's stance was clear, and despite attempts by the external forces to cause division, Indians remain united.
" I belong to the second-largest opposition party in India, which has 42 Membersm taking into account both the houses of Parliament. We are very clear in our approach. While we may have our differences with the ruling government, when it comes to protecting national interests and the sovereignty of the nation, we will always act in the best interest of the country," Banerjee reiterated.
He said India is the land of Mahatma Gandhi, Gautam Buddha, Rabindranath Tagore, and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and it is a peace-loving nation. "We are always the last to talk about war or violence," Banerjee said while interacting with the Indonesian leaders and Indian diaspora.
He said Indonesia too, has been a victim of terrorism in the past. UNI PC BD SSP