Washington, D.C.  Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Executive Director of the Kashmiri American Council (KAC), today harshly condemned the cowardly contemptible murders yesterday of 35 Sikh villagers in Indian occupied Kashmir. 

He added that abhorrence of such terrorism is virtually universal among the 13 million indigenous people of Kashmir, who are resolute against sacrificing their spiritual or moral souls for any cause, political or otherwise. "Terrorism at anytime, anyplace, and by anyone can never be tolerated in a civilized society, " said Dr. Fai.

 He voiced his deepest sympathy and condolences for the families of the murdered Sikhs, noting, nevertheless, that nothing would ever lift the pain from their hearts. 

The slaying of the Sikhs was contrary to the history and traditional social harmony that has earmarked Kashmir, Dr. Fai observed. Sikhs were the smallest minority in the Kashmir Valley, but enjoyed fraternal and warm relations with their Muslim compatriots. Dr. Fai saluted the Sikh community as model citizens and neighbors, and styled the killing of the 35 yesterday as treasonous to Kashmir's traditional celebration of compassion, amity, and inter-communal good will. 

He urged an international effort to investigate the terrorist crime and capture the perpetrators. Punishment should be unforgiving, sufficient to deter would-be imitators.