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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Parliament, schools observe silence for Peshawar massacre victims
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Parliament, schools observe silence for Peshawar massacre victims

Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan condemned the attack as senseless, despicable, horrendous and cowardly

A file photo of Sumitra Mahajan. Members of Parliament from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha observed a moment’s silence as a mark of respect and to mourn the killings, the PTI news agency reported. Photo: PTIPremium
A file photo of Sumitra Mahajan. Members of Parliament from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha observed a moment’s silence as a mark of respect and to mourn the killings, the PTI news agency reported. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Both Houses of India’s Parliament on Wednesday condemned Tuesday’s Peshawar massacre, where the Pakistan Taliban killed 150 people including 132 children at an army school.

Members of Parliament from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha observed a moment’s silence as a mark of respect and to mourn the killings, the PTI news agency reported.

In the Lok Sabha, speaker Sumitra Mahajan expressed shock at the massacre and slammed the “despicable, senseless, horrendous and cowardly terrorist attack."

A resolution passed by the Lok Sabha said, “The House resolves that all barbaric terrorist attacks against innocent people especially vulnerable children should not be tolerated and calls upon all the nations and each and every one with all the energies at their command to fight against all acts of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations."

It came as Pakistan on Wednesday began three days of mourning for the victims of one of the country’s deadliest terror attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to rid the country and the entire region of terrorism.

The massacre is seen as retaliation to the Pakistan army’s Zarb-e-Azb military operation against Pakistani Taliban militants that started in June. According to the Pakistani military, that operation has been a success with about 1,600 militants being killed.

In India, many schools across the country observed a two-minute silence as a mark of respect for the dead following an appeal from Prime Minister Narendra Modi late Tuesday.

Setting aside differences, Modi reached out to Sharif in a late night telephone call offering help and joining of hands to fight terrorism.

India and Pakistan have had tense relations since the partition of the subcontinent, mainly due to their dispute over Kashmir. The two countries have fought three wars over the region since the end of British rule in 1947. India accuses Pakistan of fomenting Islamist insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir and supporting anti-India militant groups, who the Indian government blames for attacks across the country—including the November 2008 terror attack in Mumbai that left 166 people dead.

In a statement to the Lok Sabha, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj called on “those who believe in humanity to join hands to decisively and comprehensively defeat terrorism.

“On our part, India stands ready to play our role in this global endeavour," she said.

Soon after the news of the attack broke, India had “swiftly and strongly condemned" it, Swaraj said, adding that Modi “reflected the entire nation’s feelings, when he termed it ‘a senseless act of unspeakable brutality.’ "

In the Rajya Sabha, chairman Hamid Ansari echoed the sentiments expressed by the Lok Sabha, saying, “This senseless and brutal cowardly act is deplorable.

The loss of innocent lives in this incident is indeed tragic and unfortunate. This incident only reaffirms our resolve to fight terrorism with more determination and firmness," Ansari said.

PTI and AFP contributed to this story.

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Published: 17 Dec 2014, 03:58 PM IST
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