Not time for domestic blame game; Islamist terrorists, Pak handlers need to be destroyed: Tharoor

New Delhi: Asserting that this is not the time for a domestic blame game over the Pahalgam terror attack, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said Islamist terrorists and their Pakistani handlers need to be destroyed and that "we must all support our government" in doing whatever it judges best to achieve this.

He also asserted that India's commitment to Kashmiri integration and communal harmony must not be diluted.

At least 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed and several injured when terrorists opened fire at a meadow near Pahalgam town in south Kashmir's Anantnag district on Tuesday afternoon.

Tharoor said the responsibility for the horrors endured this week lies more with those who planned and carried out the killings than those who failed to prevent them.

He made the remarks in a post on X as he could not return from Lakshadweep in time for the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here.

He said he was adding his endorsement to the "strong and constructive" statement issued by the CWC.

Making four additional, inter-related points, Tharoor said the objectives of the Pahalgam attack are clear -- stop peace, derail "normalisation", destroy tourism, wreck the Kashmir economy to increase discontent there, add to the mistrust of Kashmiris, among other Indians, and increase communal polarisation in India.

"Only one set of people gains from all of these -- the malign forces in Pakistan. The blame lies squarely with those evil men who so recently articulated a bigoted view of the impossibility of good relations between Hindus and Muslims. We must not let them win," the former Union minister said.

Sharing a paragraph from an article, Tharoor said, "We should not blame ordinary Kashmiris for what happened, which is completely against their interests. If in our fury and grief, we alienate them, or if a majority of Indians turn against an entire community because of the actions of a few, the terrorists' objectives will have succeeded." Asserting that this is not the time for a domestic blame game, Tharoor said the attack had all the hallmarks of a planned operation, using sophisticated intelligence and reconnaissance, with meticulous planning and well-timed execution.

"Responsibility for the horrors we have endured this week lies more with those who planned and carried out the killings, than with those who failed to prevent them," the MP from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram added.

"There were intelligence and security failures on our side, no doubt. The security forces can't be everywhere. But they will now have to add ordinary tourist spots to the list of places they will need to protect," he said.

The former diplomat said Islamist terrorists and their Pakistani handlers need to be defeated and destroyed.

"We must all support our government in doing whatever they judge best to do to achieve this," he said, adding that it also means not allowing any of the killers' larger objectives to be achieved.

"We must continue to pursue normalcy, tourism and growth in Kashmir. India's commitment to Kashmiri integration and communal harmony must not be diluted," he said.

Tharoor called for not giving Islamist bigots in Islamabad the satisfaction of seeing India fall into their trap by behaving "as they want us to".

"Let us, even as we mourn, rise above our justified anger to be the best versions of ourselves -- fair-minded, all-embracing, and determined to ensure better lives for all our people, Muslim and Hindu, Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri alike. Let us never surrender to the murderers," the Congress leader said.

The CWC said the cowardly Pahalgam attack masterminded by Pakistan is a direct assault on the values of the Indian republic, even as it accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of exploiting the tragedy to promote discord and polarisation at a time when unity is most needed.