Sorrow, silence, solidarity: Lucknow’s tribute to Pahalgam victims
Educational institutions, social organisations and civil society condemn terror attack; candlelight marches taken out, condolence meetings held as citizens pledge for a “safer and stronger India”
LUCKNOW Educational institutions, social organisations and the civil society expressed solidarity with the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack, staging protests against the incident and holding candlelight marches in the state capital on Thursday.
Rashtriya Yuva Adhikar Manch (N.Y.R.M) and Jansatta Party of India (JPI) paid tribute to the victims at Gandhi statue near GPO in Hazratganj. Party chief Shashank Shekhar Singh Pushkar said the entire country expresses condolences to the families of the deceased.
“This kind of violence cannot be tolerated. The government should give harsh punishment to the accused. There is a deep conspiracy to make Jammu and Kashmir unsafe and harm the people there economically,” said Pushkar.
The party urged the government to get a transparent investigation of the brutal massacre done and initiate stern action against the culprits.
South City Women’s Association took out a candlelight march from Ambedkar University road to D Block South City to protest the attack. Raising slogans against terrorism, the members reached D Block Park and paid tribute to the victims by observing a two-minute silence.
“Terrorism has no religion...had local Kashmiri people not helped the tourists, this massacre could have been even more horrific,” they said.
The Millennium School also organized a candlelight march and condolence meet. Staff, parents and students pledged for a “safer and stronger India”. The event was graced by State Women Commission vice-chairperson Aparna Yadav and Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (Lucknow wing) chairman Mukesh Singh. Principal Manjula Goswami expressed condolences to the victims and their families.
Students, teachers and staff of City Montessori School (CMS), across all its 21 campuses, paid tribute to those who died in the incident. Memorial assemblies were held on each campus, where CMS members expressed deep sorrow and solidarity. A condolence meeting was organized at the CMS head office where founder-director Bharti Gandhi was present.
Teaching faculty and staff of King George’s Medical University and Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences staged protest against the killing of tourists. The march at KGMU was led by vice- chancellor Prof Soniya Nityanand, along with president of KGMU Teachers’ Association KK Singh, general secretary Santosh Kumar and Pradip Gangwar of the KGMU Nursing Association.
A condolence meet was organised at the RMLIMS. Director CM Singh said: “We stand with the victim families and will do our best to support them.”
A tribute was paid to those who lost their lives in the Pahalgam incident at Khun Khun Ji Girls’ Degree College. Principal Anshu Kedia urged the government to conduct a thorough investigation into this incident and give the harshest punishment to the culprits.
