Punita Bhatia and her daughter, Meera, of Barrington, hold luminaria at the vigil at the State House last night for the victims of the Mumbai terrorist attack last week. More than 170 were killed and 200 wounded in the attack.

The Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez

PROVIDENCE — A former president of the India Association of Rhode Island, just back from his hometown of Mumbai where terrorist attacks killed more than 170 people, called on the United States last night to take strong action against Pakistan, whom he blamed for the tragedy.

In addition to the deaths, more than 200 people were injured during the 60 hours it took for the attacks and counterattacks to unfold.

Sharad Bhatia said during an ecumenical candlelight vigil to honor the victims that such attacks are supported by too many elements in Pakistan, which he characterized as a failed state and “a global menace to peace and security.”

He called for an international embargo to force Pakistan to act against its radical elements.

“We reach moments sometimes when words are inadequate to express the horror and revulsion we feel as human beings when we are shocked and numbed by the barbarity ... with which human beings treat their fellow human beings,” he said.

The attacks, which began Nov. 26, are one such example, he said. “Even the people of India, who have suffered more at the hands of Islamic terrorists than any other nation, are stunned by the brazenness and barbarity of these latest terrorist attacks.”

Governor Carcieri was one of the speakers at the vigil, which drew a crowd of about 60 to the State House steps.

“The fact is, evil exists, much as sometimes you want to deny it,” the governor said. “There is no other explanation for people who would do what was done that day.”

Bhatia contended that “there is now a mountain of evidence, from satellite and mobile phones, Internet intercepts, and the confessions of the lone survivor who was apprehended, that these attacks were meticiously planned and executed” by a fanatical Islamic group.

He alleged that they were all done “with the help of Pakistan’s notorious intelligence service, the ISA, and former Pakistani army officials,” and that U.S. officials concur with that conclusion.

The United States, for its part, has been urging Pakistan to cooperate with the probe to try to uncover those responsible for the tragedy.

Bhatia said an embargo is necessary because there is now a “worldwide consensus that Pakistan has become the center for Islamist terrorism [and that] all Islamist terrorism in the world radiates from Pakistan.”

The Rev. Liliana Da Valle, executive director of the American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island, said India’s greatest legacy was the message of peace offered by Mahatma Gandhi.

“There are two evils the human heart can harbor, and those are fear and hatred,” she said. “It is my prayer tonight that in dealing with this other terrible evil, which is terrorism, we can be saved from the other two.”

gemery@projo.com