President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and leaders of several parties spoke in one voice to assert that there will be no justification for terrorism.
Child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, who received the Nobel Peace Prize just a week back along with Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai, termed the massacre by Taliban militants in Peshawar as "one of the darkest days of humanity". He offered himself to the terrorists if they were ready to free the children taken hostage.
"My heart goes out to everyone who lost their loved ones today. We share their pain & offer our deepest condolences.
"Strongly condemn the cowardly terrorist attack at a school in Peshawar. It is a senseless act of unspeakable brutality that has claimed lives of the most innocent of human beings - young children in their school," Modi tweeted.
The External Affairs Ministry said no words will capture the feeling of deep revulsion and horror we feel about this attack against innocent children.
"We hope the almighty gives them the courage and fortitude to bear their irreparable loss. There never has been, nor will there ever be, a justification for terrorism. Our hearts go out to the grief-stricken families of the innocent children killed and injured in this barbaric attack in Peshawar," the Official Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry Syed Akbaruddin said.
President Mukherjee, who is under treatment at am Army hospital here, said such heinous acts are against all tenets of humanity.
"They are nothing but a manifestation of the extreme evil that terrorists are capable of. The world community must unite and redouble efforts to root out terrors from every country and society," he said in his condolence message.
In a series of tweets, Omar said, "What terrible, heart breaking images of the attack in #Peshawar. Inhuman and barbaric don't even begin to describe the perpetrators."
"Schools are supposed to be places of sanctuary & today these Godless animals have converted one in to a killing field."
"This barbaric act has caused universal outrage and painfully underscores the threat posed by organized terrorist groups to humankind," Congress President Sonia Gandhi said.
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