Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday said here that the terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam was the “murder of humanity” and the terrorists were trying to “wipe out” all the work done by the Central government there in the last few years. Arlekar also said that in the current circumstances citizens of India need to stand together as a nation, in an apparent reference to criticisms of security lapses from some quarters, including the Congress and the CPI(M).
Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai also expressed a similar view. He said that the entire nation needs to stand together to face such challenges and terror activities like this will be seen as a war against the nation and dealt with accordingly.
Both the Governors spoke to reporters after paying their respects to the mortal remains of N Ramachandran, a resident of Edappally here, who was gunned down in the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives. “It is a very sad moment not only for Kerala, but the entire country. In fact, what happened in Pahalgam was against humanity. This was a murder of humanity and we all are so saddened that we cannot express it,” Arlekar said.
“All that was done in the last few months and years is being wiped out by some extremists or terrorists who want to show they are against the meaning of India,” he added. Arlekar said that such attempts will not succeed due to the efforts of the security forces and the Central government. At the same time, he also called for everyone to stand together as a nation and show the enemies of the country that “we are not going to surrender before terrorist activities”.
“Our nationhood has to be shown at this time,” he said.
“I pray to God to give peace to the departed souls,” he added.
Pillai remembered Ramachandran as a party colleague when he was functioning as a BJP leader in Kerala in the past.
He said that Ramachandran continued to be a model representative of the people of the area.
Terrorists opened fire at a tourist location near Kashmir’s Pahalgam town on the afternoon of April 22, in what is the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.