By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Congress leader MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday has sharply criticized Pakistan for its treatment of Dr. Shakil Afridi, the physician who helped the US locate and eliminate Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden responded to a post by US Congressman Brad Sherman who urged a visiting Pakistan to press for Dr. Afridi’s release.
Sherman wrote on X,“I urged the Pakistani delegation to relay to their government the need to free Dr. Shakil Afridi, who continues to languish in prison for helping the United States kill Osama Bin Laden. Freeing Dr. Afridi represents an important step in bringing closure for victims of 9/11.”
Tharoor reacted to the statement said: “A welcome reminder by Rep. @BradSherman that Pakistan is the country that not only sheltered terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden (in a safe house near an army camp in a cantonment city!) but also arrested and punished the brave doctor who identified his location for the Americans. In Pakistan you are rewarded for promoting terrorism and persecuted for exposing terrorists!”
Dr Shakil Afridi is a Pakistani doctor who helped the US Central Intelligence Agency in the hunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Afridi served as the senior health official of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. In 2008, he was abducted by Mangal Bagh, a bus driver turned commander of a Pakistani militant group, Lashkar-e-Islam.
Tharoor all party delegation in the US paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at his statue opposite the Indian Embassy in Washington.
“Once again, as in all the countries the delegation visited, we were able to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi at his statue opposite the Embassy in Washington DC,” Tharoor posted.
He noted, “It is striking how many world capitals are adorned with statues or busts of the Mahatma, the 20th century’s greatest apostle of peace, nonviolence, and human freedom.”
The delegation met with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.
The Indian Embassy in Washington shared the update on social media platform X, stated “The All Party Parliamentary delegation led by Dr. @ShashiTharoor had a warm and candid conversation with US Deputy Secretary of State @DeputySecState today. The Indian Delegation briefed him on the atrocities of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor,” the embassy posted.
They had an “excellent meeting” with US Vice President J.D. Vance in Washington, briefed about Operation Sindoor, terrorism faced by India and regional security, the updated statement concluded.
