A president of an Indian-Filipino business group condemned on Saturday, May 10, the attacks executed by the Pakistani Army on the Jammu and Kashmir districts amid heightened tensions and retaliatory measures over the past week.
PH-based Indians condemn Pakistani attack in Kashmir region
Published May 10, 2025 03:35 pm
Local residents and members of the media examine a building damaged by a suspected Indian missile attack near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
In a statement, Filipino Indian Commerce and Welfare Society Inc. (FICWSI) President and Manila-based businessman Manjinder “James” Kumar asked for prayers for the victims of the incident last May 7, which he said led to the death of some seven people.
“As the Chairman of Khalsa Diwan Indian Sikh Temple Manila, and on the behalf of Indian Community exercising their religious freedom in the Philippines, I strongly condemn Pakistan’s Army shelling on Shri Guru Sikh Sabha Gurudwara in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on May 7,” Kumar said.
“The attack has caused huge damage in civilian areas of Poonch, leading to the death of nearly 12 people in the district,” he added.
He also asked “for everyone’s prayers regardless of race or religion, during this perilous time when an individual’s faith may put his life at risk” and urged everyone to be vigilant “against all forms of oppression—whether religious or otherwise.”
Reports said Pakistan launched drone and missile attacks on military stations in the India-controlled Kashmir region during the second day of clashes between India and Pakistan. This came after India attacked Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing at least 26 people.
The exchange of attacks happened after the massacre of more than two dozen civilians, mostly tourists, in the tourist resort of Pahalgam in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month.
India has accused Pakistan of being involved in the massacre, which Islamabad has denied.
Kumar has also denounced the attack in Pahalgam, which he said was conducted by “Pakistani-led terrorists.”
“On behalf of the 100,000-strong Indian community in the Philippines and upstanding Filipino-Indians represented by our society FICWSI, we express our deepest condolences to the survivors and the families of the victims of this senseless act of violence,” he said earlier.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Embassy in Islamabad have already released advisories to Filipinos, reminding them to avoid traveling to the areas of Bhimber City, Azad Kashmir, the Sialkot Line of Control, and anywhere within five miles of the India-Pakistan border.
There are 3,151 Filipinos in the whole of Pakistan, while some 3,350 Filipinos live in India.
The recent spate of violence is the worst confrontation between the two countries—each controlling parts of Kashmir but claim it in whole—in more than two decades.