Washington, D.C. [US], June 5 (ANI):
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, currently leading an all-party Indian delegation to the United States, strongly asserted Pakistan’s involvement in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack during an event organized by the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. Responding to a question from his son, Ishan Tharoor, about whether any country had asked India for evidence, the senior Congress leader said that while no formal requests had been made, India had solid and compelling evidence of Pakistan’s role.
“There were three particular reasons,” Tharoor said. “First, we’ve had a 37-year pattern of repeated terror attacks from Pakistan, always followed by denials. Let’s not forget, the Americans themselves remember how Osama bin Laden was found in a safe house in a Pakistani cantonment city, right next to an army camp. During the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan denied involvement even though we caught one terrorist alive. His identity, address, and training details were all confirmed during interrogation.”
Tharoor went on to cite recordings of the 2008 Mumbai attack, in which handlers from Pakistan gave instructions in real time to the attackers. “These communications were intercepted by both Indian and U.S. intelligence. The handlers were even watching Indian television and telling the attackers where to find more people. That’s Pakistan—dispatching terrorists and denying responsibility until they’re caught with red hands,” he said.
Addressing the second piece of evidence, Tharoor explained that the group called The Resistance Front (TRF), a known proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba, had claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack twice before withdrawing the statement. “TRF is a well-documented front of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group banned by the UN and the U.S. They enjoy safe haven in Muridke, Pakistan. India has already presented substantial evidence about TRF’s activities to the UN Committee on Terrorism in both 2023 and 2024,” he said.
Tharoor added that the speed with which TRF claimed responsibility—within 45 minutes of the attack—and then repeated it again the following day, only to retract it later, points to a coordinated effort. “They claimed it before the global public even knew it happened. That’s a smoking gun,” he said.
The third point of evidence Tharoor raised was about funerals held in Pakistan for terrorists killed in Indian strikes. “These were not anonymous funerals. Photographs have surfaced showing senior Pakistani generals and police officers attending funerals of members from Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba. These visuals confirm state complicity and support for the terrorists,” he noted.
He reiterated that India’s military response—Operation Sindoor—was not reactionary but based on credible intelligence and a serious threat assessment. “India does not undertake military operations lightly. In the past year alone, we’ve faced 24 terrorist attacks traced back to Pakistan, but none of them warranted a military strike. This one was different. It bore all the hallmarks of a planned, sophisticated, and quasi-military operation,” Tharoor said.
“This wasn’t some lone wolf attacker or a radical blowing himself up at a market. This was a calculated assault, involving reconnaissance, intelligence, and even the execution of civilians based on religion. It was a deliberate, brutal act. And that required a decisive response,” he added.
Tharoor’s remarks underscore India’s firm stance on cross-border terrorism and its readiness to defend its people through both diplomatic outreach and strategic military responses. (ANI)
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