Terrorism is absolute evil, says UN secy-gen
NEW DELHI: United Nations Secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said terrorism is an “absolute evil” that must be collectively countered by all countries as he paid tribute to the 166 people killed in the “barbaric” terror attacks in Mumbai in November 2008.
Guterres, who is on a two-day visit to India, participated in a simple ceremony at Taj Palace Hotel in Mumbai – one of the main targets in the attacks carried out in India’s financial hub by a 10-member squad from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-taiba (LET) – and met a survivor of the carnage.
“Terrorism is absolute evil. There are no reasons, no pretexts, no causes, no grievances that can justify terrorism. Terrorism is absolute evil and terrorism has no room in today’s world,” he told a small gathering that included Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and Ruchira Kamboj, India’s envoy to the UN.
“So, I feel deeply moved to be here, where one of most barbaric terrorist acts in history took place, where 166 people lost their lives. I want to pay tribute to the victims, they are heroes of our world.”
Guterres, who made no reference to Pakistan or the LET in his brief speech, said: “Fighting terrorism must be a global priority for every country on earth, and fighting terrorism is a central priority for the United Nations.” “We need to attack those roots of violent extremism that try to provide justification for terrorist acts...”
Hours before Guterres participated in the ceremony in Mumbai, China blocked a joint India-us proposal to sanction LET leader Shahid Mahmood at the UN Security Council. This was the fourth time this year that China used a so-called “technical hold” to stymie the listing of Pakistan-based terrorist leaders.
Guterres noted that he was in “one of the most diverse countries in the world”, and said: “We need to stay together and we need to be much more effective in eliminating the root causes of terrorism and much more united in fighting terrorism in all its expressions and in making sure that terrorists will have no more place in our world.”