Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday met the bereaved families those who were affected by recent Pakistani shelling in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch. This marks Gandhi’s second visit to the valley after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack which killed 26 people, most of them tourists.
During his visit Rahul Gandhi called the shelling as a major tragedy, noting that many lives had been lost and significant damage had occurred. He said he had spoken with the affected people to understand their concerns, and that they had asked him to raise the issue at the national level, which he assured he would do."It was a big tragedy and many people have lost their lives. There has been huge damage. I spoke with the people and tried to understand their problems. They have requested me to raise this issue on the national level and I will do that," Gandhi said.
Interacting with school children in Poonch, the Congress MP assured that the situation in the valley will be back to normal soon. "Don't worry, everything will come back to normal. Your way of responding to this problem should be that you study really hard, you play really hard, and you make lots of friends in school,” he told the students.
Gandhi also visited the Shri Guru Singh Sabha in Poonch, the Gurudwara was damaged in cross-border shelling by Pakistan.
During his visit to Jammu and Kashmir last month following the attack, Rahul Gandhi stated that the motive behind the terror strike was to divide the people of the country, and stressed the need for national unity to defeat terrorism once and for all.
Congress national general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir earlier had said, "Rahul Gandhi is visiting Poonch to meet the families affected by Pakistani shelling. He wants to extend solidarity with the bereaved families."
Poonch witnessed intense shelling
The Poonch sector witnessed intense artillery shelling about two weeks ago amid rising tensions with Pakistan, after India carried out precise strikes on nine terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on May 7 under Operation Sindoor.
These targets included the headquarters of banned terror outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed in Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke.
Following India’s launch of Operation Sindoor to dismantle terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK, a wave of artillery shelling, missile, and drone strikes by Pakistan hit the Jammu region, especially Poonch, between May 8 and 10, resulting in the deaths of 27 people and injuries to over 70 others.
(With PTI inputs)
