Indian Americans in New York hold protest outside Pak Consulate, Times Square on 2008 Mumbai attacks anniversary
Nov 27, 2020
New York [US], November 27 : To commemorate the sacrifice of the security personnel and people who lost their lives in the 2008 Mumbai Terror Attack, a group of Indian Americans held protests outside the Pakistan Consulate and Times Square on Thursday (Local time) against Islamabad's role in the dastardly act.
Protesters called for an end to state-sponsored terrorism by the country on the 12th anniversary of the terror attacks.
The protestors, while wearing masks and maintaining social distancing were holding banners that read, "Stop Pak terrorism" and "We demand justice". A mobile banner was also rolled out outside the Pakistani Consulate and Times Square, demanding justice for victims of Mumbai Terror Attack.
"We are here standing outside the Pakistani consulate having a peaceful protest against the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. None of the culprits are being punished by law. In Pakistan, these terrorists are still hiding," said a New York-based demonstrator while speaking to ANI.
"We want to draw the attention of the Biden administration to take appropriate action against the terrorism around the world," he added.
The protestor pointed out that in the terrorist attack in Mumbai, 2008, many American and Israeli lives were lost as well. "We need justice and we need the culprits and terrorists hiding in Pakistan to be punished."
Atish Bhandari, another Indian American demonstrator, said that he "highly condemns" the terrorism that is being spread by Pakistan throughout the world. "Any terrorist attack in the world -- whether it is in New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka -- the roots go back to Pakistan," Bhandari said.
"We urge the Pakistani community to stand up against the jihadists and then, the solution can come. I also urge the United Nations to take a concrete step against Pakistan and place it in the blacklist of the FATF so that terrorism could be taken away from the roots," he added.
On Wednesday, A group of Indian-Americans also held a memorial gathering outside the Capitol Hill for the victims of the deadly 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai.
Displaying anti-Pakistan banners and shouting slogans like "We want justice", the protesters on Wednesday evening (local time) said that twelve years have passed and Pakistan is yet to take any action on those who orchestrated the attack. Instead, the prime accused live freely in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, in Nepal, thousands of people took to the streets to protest against Pakistan's role in perpetuating the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008.
On November 26, 2008, ten terrorists trained by the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) carried out a series of coordinated attacks against multiple targets in Mumbai including the Taj Mahal hotel, the Oberoi hotel, the Leopold Cafe, the Nariman (Chabad) House, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, killing 166 people.
