‘Even land of Mahatma Gandhi…’: Shashi Tharoor’s ‘other cheek’ warning to Pakistan

Latest in the series of warnings issued to Pakistan over terrorism, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor affirmed that India will not turn the other cheek to acts of terror and “will respond” to any further attack on its land.

Shashi Tharoor, who is leading one of the all-party delegations on Operation Sindoor, was speaking at an event organised by the Indian embassy in Panama. He highlighted Mahatma Gandhi’s teaching of living without fear and said that one must stand up for their rights.

“We must always stand up in principle for the values we believe in, and we must live without fear that freedom from fear is what we in India have to fight for these days against the evil attacks of malign men who are called by the world as terrorists, but who believe that by doing this kind of thing of coming into our country, killing innocent people and going off again that they will somehow achieve some larger political or religious cause as you can imagine, that is not something that any self-respecting country will give into, and even the land of Mahatma Gandhi will not turn the other cheek when this happens, we will respond,” Tharoor said.

Throughout his delegation’s visits so far, Tharoor has reiterated India’s stance on terrorism and its will to hit back at any acts of terrorism, from Pakistan, and otherwise.

Tharoor’s swipe at Pakistan

Earlier in the day, Tharoor’s delegation met with Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino and foreign minister Javier Martinez Acha, and showed them pictures of Pakistani army officials attending the funeral of terrorists killed in the Indian armed forces’ operation Sindoor.

He slammed Pakistan and noted how it “was people in uniform from the highest echelons of the Pakistani Army and police mourning at the funeral of designated terrorists”.

“This is the country that now says we are innocent. We did not do it. You do not mourn for people you do not know,” the Congress MP added.

Tharoor also mentioned the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, saying that it was aimed at harming India and the booming economy of Kashmir.

“This terrorist action was in pursuance of a cynical set of objectives that sadly only the Pakistani military seems to want to pursue to undermine our country, to undermine the Kashmiri economy, which was booming with tourism,” he added.

Tharoor said that his friend, the Indian Ambassador to Washington, told him that there were more tourists in Kashmir’s Pahalgam than in Aspen, Colorado.

The all-party delegation led by Shashi Tharoor includes Sarfaraz Ahmad (JMM), Tejasvi Surya (BJP), Gants Harish Madhur Balayogi (TDP), Shashank Mani Tripathi (BJP), Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Milind Deora (Shiv Sena), and India’s former Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Sandhu.

The purpose of these delegations, which are a significant part of India’s global outreach program on Operation Sindoor and counter-terrorism, is to underline the nation’s message on unity and brotherhood, as well as the collective resolve to fight against terrorism.