Rahul Gandhi visits shelling affected areas in Poonch; lauds courage of people

Poonch (J-K) | Reaching out to the people affected by Pakistani shelling in the worst-hit Poonch, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the border district in Jammu and Kashmir embodies the "harmony, unity and patriotism of Hindustan" and those trying to divide the country will never succeed in their design.

The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha spent nearly two hours with the affected people, including the families who lost their members in the cross-border attacks between May 7 and May 10. He visited shelling-hit Gurdwara Singh Sabha, temple Geeta Bhawan and Madrassa Zia-ul-Uloom, besides interacting with the students at the Christ High School.

"It is a big tragedy. Many people lost their lives. They (Pakistan army) have hit civilian targets directly. I talked to the people and tried to understand their problems," Gandhi told reporters.

"I stand strongly with the victim families -- I will definitely raise their demands and issues at the national level," he said.

Poonch faced the brunt of the Pakistani shelling that left 28 people dead and 70 injured.

"Damaged houses, scattered belongings, moist eyes and painful stories of losing loved ones -- these patriotic families bear the biggest burden of war with courage and dignity every time. Salute to their courage," Gandhi said on X.

The Congress leader asserted that the nation would respond resolutely to any attempts to harm its unity.

“Today, I visited a temple, gurdwara and madrassa affected by Pakistani attacks in Poonch. People of every religion live together here and share each other's pain. This is Poonch - this is Hindustan, where there is harmony, unity and patriotism,” Gandhi said in another Hindi post on X after the visit.

“Those who try to divide and break us will never succeed - we will always remain united and respond strongly. Jai Hind,” Gandhi said in his post.

The Congress leader interacted with students of Christ school who lost two of their mates -- 12-year-old twins Zain Ali and Urwa Fatima -- to Pakistani shelling.

"Don't worry, everything will come back to normal," he consoled the children while encouraging them to "study hard, play hard and make lots of friends".

Though the school escaped the shelling between May 7 and 10 that left 28 dead and over 70 others injured, its two students were among the victims.

"You've seen a bit of danger, you've seen a bit of a frightening situation. But don't worry, everything will come back to normal. And your way of responding to this problem should be that you study really hard, you play really hard and you make a lot of friends in school. Okay? Will you do that? Good," Gandhi told the students.

His presence brightened up the youngsters who were seen clapping and waving as the former Congress president shook hands with them. "Big hug to all of you. Love you and thank you," he said before leaving.

Gandhi was accompanied by J-K Minister for Jal Shakti Javed Ahmed Rana, senior Congress leaders including AICC General Secretary in charge of the party's Jammu and Kashmir affairs Syed Naseer Hussain, AICC general secretary G A Mir, J-K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra and former ministers Vikar Rasool Wani and Lal Singh.

The BJP, however, hit out at Gandhi for calling an "act of terror" a "tragedy".

Taking exception to the Congress leader's remark, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, "Rahul Gandhi in his statement said that what happened in Poonch was a tragedy. Rahul Gandhi is calling (Pakistan Army's) act of terror an act of tragedy."

The entire country is shocked and upset with his remarks, he told reporters here. The BJP spokesperson said the Pakistani Army with its "terrorist mindset" rained bullets and killed unarmed innocent civilians, including in Poonch.

They also fired at Gurudwara and the devotees, who were performing puja there, he added.

"Rahul Gandhi indulges in whitewashing, calls an act of terror an act of tragedy," Poonawalla charged, adding, "You have rubbed salt on our wounds."

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and former minister Lal Singh lauded Gandhi for visiting Poonch and meeting the affected families.

“The visit of Gandhi came as a great relief to the people of Poonch which was ignored by our big leader who also failed to visit Pahalgam and instead visited Bihar for election campaigning,” he said in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said Gandhi visited both Pahalgam and Poonch and visited "every home, whether of a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian to express sympathies with them".

“Gandhi’s visit to Poonch will reverberate in parliament. Our leader will raise the voice of the victims forcefully to attract the attention of the nation towards their plight,” Singh said.

He criticised the central government for not accepting Gandhi’s demand for a special session of the parliament in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.

"The courage and dedication of the armed forces are praiseworthy but the central government needs to inform the nation about leaking information to Pakistan about an imminent strike on terror infrastructure and third-party intervention to reach an agreement on ceasefire," he said, repeating the allegations that have been dismissed by the government.

This was Gandhi's second visit to the Union territory since the dastardly April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists.

Gandhi visited Srinagar on April 25 to meet those injured in the attack. He also met Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and several stakeholders then.