PM Modi slams 1947 Kashmir policy, flays Cong for ignoring Sardar Patel's advice
This can no longer be called a proxy war because the terrorists whose funerals were held after May 6 were given state honours in Pakistan and their army saluted them, he said
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (May 27) slammed the then Congress government’s Kashmir policy post-Partition, stating that the terrorism India faces today is a “distorted continuation” of what began in 1947. He also accused the then regime of ignoring the strategic advice of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel regarding Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
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Addressing a gathering in Gujarat, the prime minister said, “The terrorists in Kashmir should have been dealt with sternly in 1947 when the first terrorist attack occurred after Partition and what India is experiencing today is a distorted form of the same terror that has plagued the country for decades.”
Should’ve reclaimed PoK
PM Modi pointed out that Sardar Patel, India's first Home Minister, had argued that the army offensive against Pakistan in 1947 should not stop without reclaiming Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, but the then Congress government ignored his advice.
“In 1947, when Mother India was partitioned into three parts... that very night, the first terror attack occurred on the soil of Kashmir. One part of Mother India was forcibly taken over by Pakistan in the name of 'mujahideen'. On that day, those so-called mujahideen should have been thrown into the pit of death,” he said.
“And it was Sardar Patel’s wish that until PoK is taken back, the army should not stop. But Sardar Sahib’s words were not followed,” the prime minister added.
Not a proxy war anymore
“And the bloodshed by these mujahideen has been continuing for the last 75 years. What happened in Pahalgam was just a distorted form of the same. ...The Indian Army has defeated Pakistan every time. Pakistan understood that it can never defeat India,” he added.
PM Modi said the terrorist activities against India are “not a proxy war” carried out by non-state actors, but “a well-planned war by Pakistan". “Terrorism isn't proxy war, it is your war strategy. You are waging war on us,” he said, referring to cross-border terrorism.
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“I say this can no longer be called a proxy war because the terrorists whose funerals were held after May 6 were given state honours in Pakistan. Pakistan’s flags were placed on their coffins, and their army saluted them. It proves that terrorist activities are not a proxy war but a well-planned war strategy. You are already at war, and you will receive the response accordingly. We do not seek enmity with anyone. We want to live peacefully. We also want to progress so that we can contribute to the welfare of the world,” he said.