Rahul Gandhi reaches J&K’s Poonch to meet families affected by Pakistani shelling
Published on May 24, 2025
By IANS
- JAMMU — Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on
Saturday reached J&K’s Poonch district to meet the victims of the
cross-border shelling by Pakistani troops during recent hostilities between the
two countries.
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- J&K Congress president, Tariq Hameed Karra, told
reporters that Rahul Gandhi will visit shell-hit structures, including a
gurdwara, a temple, a madrassa and a Christian missionary school.
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- “He will also meet
the bereaved families and the members of the civil society. He is the first
national leader to reach out to the affected population to express his
solidarity and share their pain,” Karra said.
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- Saturday’s is the second visit by the Congress leader to
J&K since the dastardly April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26
lives, including 25 tourists and a local.
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- He visited Srinagar on April 25 to meet those injured in
the Pahalgam terror attack. He had also met the J&K Lt Governor, Manoj
Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and several stakeholders during that visit.
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- During his visit to Jammu and Kashmir last month,
following the Pahalgam terror attack, LoP Rahul Gandhi had said that the idea
behind the terror strike was to divide the people of the country, and India
needed to stand united to defeat terrorism once and for all.
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- On Saturday morning, LoP Rahul Gandhi reached Jammu
airport and left for Poonch in a helicopter to visit the areas affected by
cross-border shelling and meet the affected families.
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- The Poonch sector witnessed the worst artillery shelling
after India carried out precision-guided strikes during ‘Operation Sindoor’ on
nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on
May 7 in response to the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack.
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- Heavy artillery shelling on civilian facilities by
Pakistan killed 28 people, 13 in Poonch district and injured more than 70
others between May 7 and May 10 across Jammu and Kashmir.
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- Thousands of border residents had to abandon their homes
in areas near the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) to seek
refuge in safer areas identified by the government.
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- DGMOs of India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on May
12. India, however, made it clear that while trade and the Indus Water Treaty
with Pakistan will remain in abeyance, the ceasefire understanding will only be
respected as long as Pakistan does not allow any terror activity on its soil
against India.