‘Strongly support whatever India does to pursue terrorists’: UK MP Bob Blackman on Pahalgam attack

LONDON: UK MP Bob Blackman has expressed strong support for whatever India does to pursue the terrorists and those who supported the terrorists behind the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.

He expressed hope that all the political parties in the UK will join the Indian government in expressing support for whatever India decides to do, including military action, if necessary, to eliminate those terrorist bases that exist on the opposite side of the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan.

In his address at the commemorative ceremony held at the India House in London to remember the victims of the Pahalgam attack, Blackman offered condolences to the victims, their families and all the Hindus. He even recalled his visit to Kashmir and spoke about the beauty of the region.

Bob Blackman said, “We come to share the grief. When terror strikes, it strikes the hearts of humanity…This act (the terrorist attack) demonstrates the hatred towards people because of their religion, and this cannot be tolerated. I raised this issue in the House of Commons. I asked for a statement from the government to make sure that we express not only our grief and our support for India, but also for the actions that India believes fit following this terrorist attack. The sad reality is that we could see a rapid escalation. I offer my condolences to the victims, to their families and all Hindus… We are so sorry about it.”

British Parliamentarian Padma Shri @BobBlackman condemns the terrorist attack on Hindu pilgrims in Pahalgam which tragically claimed the lives of 26 people. pic.twitter.com/nAITFQnfuk

— News Bulletin (@newsbulletin05) April 24, 2025

“I had the opportunity nine years ago to visit the Kashmir valley, and the beauty of the valley is forever etched on my mind. So the reality is that these people seek to stop tourism. We cannot allow the terrorists to do such acts…So, from my personal perspective, let me say, I would strongly support whatever India does to pursue the terrorists and those who have backed the terrorists, make sure they are brought to justice.

“If they can’t be brought to justice, they must be eliminated. It’s my expectation that all the political parties in the United Kingdom will join the Indian government in expressing that support, whatever action India chooses to take, including military action, if necessary, to eliminate those terrorist bases that exist on the opposite side of the Line of Control (LoC),” he added.

The High Commission of India in the UK held a solemn commemorative ceremony at the India House to remember the victims of the terrorist attack that took place in Pahalgam on April 22.

Catherine West, Labour MP and Foreign Office Minister for the Indo-Pacific, offered condolences over the “horrific terrorist attack” in Pahalgam. She expressed the UK’s support for India in the face of “cowardly attacks of terrorism” against innocent civilians.

In her speech at the event, West said, “I wanted to express condolences for the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam and my thoughts are with those affected, their loved ones and the people of India…Indian diaspora, including so many of the people in this room, is a living bridge between the UK and India, and I know many people feel this tragedy very personally.

“As the Secretary of State, Lisa Nandy, also said last night, the UK stands shoulder to shoulder with India in the face of the cowardly attacks of terrorism against innocent civilians…I wanted to thank both parties, the main parties in the House, for attending this evening as backbench members across the House of Lords and my Lords, my Ladies, who are sitting here as well.”

“Both the upper House and in the House of Commons, we had very solemn words from both sides of the House today, remember those families, those victims, and we must pull together dangerous times like this. To emphasise an element of justice, but also to put our arms around the families and the communities who are in deep sorrow. Thank you so much for this opportunity to be part of the prayer for peace today. We are with you,” she added.

Several dignitaries, including Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs L Murugan, Maharashtra’s Minister of Social Justice Sanjay Shirsat, Bob Blackman and several other UK MPs, joined the gathering to express their condolences and support.

The event brought together members of the Indian diaspora from across the UK, who came to pay their respects and stand in solidarity with the victims and their families. India’s High Commissioner to UK, Vikram Doraiswami, addressed the attendees, emphasising the importance of resilience, unity, and justice in the face of such tragedies.

Doraiswami said that the attack was conducted to prevent people of Jammu and Kashmir from carrying out normal day-to-day businesses, to stop them from improving their lives through work and business.

Doraiswami said, “First and foremost, why is this something that is worthy of our attention. It is so because this is the largest killing of civilians since the Mumbai terror attacks. In 2019, there was a similar terror outrage… it was a targeted attack on the paramilitary convoy. In this case, people were pulled out, identified on the basis of their identity, their religious identity and shot dead. These were civilians in the vast majority, and all who were there were just to have a holiday. The purpose of this exercise was purely to create terror and to undermine the ongoing normalisation of circumstances in Jammu and Kashmir.”

“The purpose of this exercise was to prevent people of Jammu and Kashmir from carrying out normal day-to-day businesses, to prevent them from improving their lives through business, through work, to intimidate people from coming to this beautiful part of India and to undermine the normalisation of the political process that had been brought into play through the very successful conduct of an election…I can tell you this, you have seen for the last several decades repeated efforts to intimidate, otherwise distract India in its development journey or to try and break the spirit of India and to break the unity of the people of India across language, caste, creed and religion.

“I can tell you this, it hasn’t worked before. It won’t work now, it will never work. There are 1.4 billion of us. We are a nation moving forward. We are a nation moving together. We are a nation dealing with our challenges, some left over by history, some left over by acts of our own, but none that will be deterred, no part of our journey that will be deterred by people who believe that killing people is a solution,” he added.

Vikram Doraiswami said that people had travelled to Pahalgam to enjoy the holiday and mentioned some of the victims, including a newly married couple and a child. He reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks that India will never forget and forgive, instead, there will be price that will be paid by those who were behind the attack.

He said, “I ask you to remember, however, that these were lives of ordinary people. I ask you to remember that these were lives of people like you and I who seek to spend time with family, to seek to have what everybody believes is their right – the opportunity to travel, opportunity to broaden the mind, the opportunity to spend a few precious moments together in this short journey that we call life. And it was these people for whom that very, very simple, basic opportunity to live was taken away from them.

“Look, for instance, at the picture of that young lady there. That young lady and her husband were newly married. They were there on their honeymoon. That young child’s life, as we do it, for no particular purpose, won’t change the tragedy of history. It won’t change the art of destiny; we are building that one. It is not going to make a difference.”

“Those who believe that they can organise and send people like that, they’ll like this across the line of control to create terror, that which was always going to create, all it does is light the lives of the people. And so I ask you to remember in everything that you do that we have no place in our hearts for hatred. We have no place in our minds for enmity. Every one of us is an Indian. No matter what language we speak, where we come from, how we pray, this is our country, and it is not for others to dictate how we will respond.

“What I can tell you is this: what our Prime Minister said recently, we will never forget, we will never forgive, and we will exact a punishment for this. There will be no commitments. There will be no forgiveness, there will be a price to be paid by the people who committed this act, by the people who planned it and the people who backed it. And there will be nothing in the world that will stop us from doing that. And there will be nothing in the world that will deter us from our mission, no matter where they are, how far they are,” he added.

Terrorists attacked tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on Tuesday, killing 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen while leaving several others injured, in one of the deadliest attacks in the valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed. Following the attack, India has taken strong countermeasures against Pakistan for its support of cross-border terrorism. (ANI)