In what can be seen as big change happening in Kashmir in context of changing perspectives towards terrorism, people have now started to speak up publicly against the terror groups and perpetrators of terror acts in J&K, Pahalgam massacre being the latest incident this year.
A day after the US Department of State’s designated ‘The Resistance Front (TRF)’ as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation, Hyder Shah, father of pony ride operator Syed Adil Hussain Shah, who died in the Pahalgam terror attack while saving tourists, expressed his happiness. His reaction is something which is being welcome in changed environs of Kashmir when common people have begun to raise voice against terrorism.
“The terrorist organisations should be eliminated to stop the killing of innocent people…We are very happy as The Resistance Front (TRF), proxy of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. They killed my child in Pahalgam…They provided justice to us by designating The Resistance Front (TRF) as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO)…” Shah said.
The sister of Syed Adil Hussain Shah also expressed her happiness on the decision and said “We are very happy and all terrorist organisations should also be banned. All the terrorist organisations should be eliminated…We trust PM Modi a lot…”
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar welcomed the United States’ decision against the TRF that had claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Kashmir in which Pak-supported terrorsis killed 26 people in the name of religion.Jaishankar termed the move by the US Department of State as a “strong affirmation of India-US counter-terrorism cooperation.”
“Appreciate SecRubio and @StateDept for designating TRF, a Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) proxy, as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). It claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam attack. Zero tolerance for terrorism,” Jaishankar posted on his social media platform X.
In a statement issued by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio it was acknowledged that TRF, which is a known proxy of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, under US anti-terrorism laws had claimed responsibility for the Pahalagam terror attack.
The Pahalgam attack in the tourist hotspot in Jammu and Kashmir had triggered the four-day military escalation between India and Pakistan. In light of this, the US accorded the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
The United States noted this was the deadliest civilian attack in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, also carried out by LeT.
The US State Department further stated that TRF has also been involved in multiple attacks on Indian security forces in recent years, including in 2024.The decision, the US government said, underlined the Trump administration’s continued commitment to global counter-terrorism.
“These actions taken by the Department of State demonstrate the Trump Administration’s commitment to protecting our national security interests, countering terrorism, and enforcing President Trump’s call for justice for the Pahalgam attack,” Rubio said in the statement.
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