Cong takes out candlelight march in Shimla, pledges support to Centre against terror

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and AICC in-charge for Himachal Rajni Patil today said that the Congress would firmly support the Centre government in whatever decision it takes in the interest of the country following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam. The two addressed the media after the Congress took out a candlelight march in Shimla today to pay homage to the people killed in the terror attack.

Apart from Sukhu and Patil, state Congress president Pratibha Singh, Cabinet Ministers, MLAs and party workers took part in the march. The procession marched to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, raising slogans against Pakistan and terrorism.

Patil said that the Congress expressed its full support to the government over the issue in the all-party meeting held in New Delhi yesterday. She refused to comment on the security lapse, saying that the party would not make any political statement on the matter. “I will only say that any such lapse should not recur,” she added.

Sukhu reiterated the party’s support to the Central Government over the issue. “The Congress has lost two Prime Ministers in the attack on the unity and integrity of the country. The Pahalgam incident is also an attack on the unity and integrity of our country by the outside forces. We firmly stand with the Centre on this particular issue,” said Sukhu.

Pratibha said that it was not only an attack on innocent tourists but also on humanity and the country. “It can’t be tolerated. The time has come to completely eradicate terrorism. The people responsible for this attack should be given exemplary punishment so that no one dares to carry out such a dastardly attack in the future,” she added.

Two-minute silence observed

• Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday led the state in paying tributes to the victims of the terror attack at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22. A two-minute silence was observed in their memory on the premises of the state Secretariat here
• “Today, we have gathered at the Secretariat and at the offices of all Deputy Commissioners in the state to pay tributes to all those who were killed in the gruesome terror attack. We also extend our sympathies to the bereaved families and the nation shares their sorrow in this difficult time,” he said
• Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi, Deputy Chairman, State Planning Board, Bhawani Singh Pathania, Deputy Chief Whip Kewal Singh Pathania, Lahaul-Spiti MLA Anuradha Rana, Chief Minister’s Principal Media Adviser Naresh Chauhan and Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena were present