The Indian mission in the UK on Monday organised the first community-wide anti-terrorism pledge just hours before the atrocious terrorist attack in Manchester that killed 22 and injured hundreds including young children who had gone to watch Ariana Grande in concert.
The pledge was taken by Indian embassies and missions around the world to coincide with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary on May 21, marked as Anti-Terrorism Day in India.
This year’s pledge in London was organised as a wider event to involve Indians based in the UK. The pledge invokes India’s faith in the tradition of non-violence and tolerance. “We pledge to uphold and promote peace, social harmony and understanding among all fellow human beings and fight the forces of disruption threatening human lives and values,” it reads.
Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha, the Indian High Commissioner, delivered the pledge to the gathering that included councillors and members of the House of Lords, and recalled that London had recently suffered a terror attack in March. Terrorism, he said, affected lives across the world.
He also commented, “The scourge of terrorism affects innocent lives not just in one country but across the globe. No country and no people should shelter terrorists, promote terrorists or appease terrorists.”
