Madhubani (Bihar):
India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers and our spirit will never be broken, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today, sending a strong message two days after 25 tourists and a Kashmiri were brutally killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
The Prime Minister was in Bihar’s Madhubani for a government event. He started his address with a silent tribute to those killed in the Pahalgam terror attack. Later in his address, he said the entire country is in pain because of the ruthless manner in which terrorists killed innocent tourists in Pahalgam. “The whole country is with the bereaved families. The government is trying its best to ensure the well-being of those injured. Someone has lost a son, someone has lost a brother, someone has lost life partner. Someone spoke Bengali, someone spoke Kannada, someone was Marathi, someone was Odia, someone was Gujarati and someone was Bihar’s son.
“From Kargil to Kanyakumari, there is grief and rage. This attack was not just on innocent tourists; the country’s enemies have shown the audacity to attack India’s soul,” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister said the terrorists who carried out the attack and those who plotted it would “get a punishment they cannot imagine”. “The time has come to raze whatever is left of the terror haven. The will of 140 crores will break the back of the masters of terror,” he said, his words directed at Pakistan, which is known to have backed acts of terror on Indian soil.
Shifting to English, clearly to send a message across the globe, the Prime Minister said, “I say to the whole world. India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the earth. India’s spirit will never be broken by terrorism. Terrorism will not go unpunished. Every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done. The entire nation is firm in this resolve. Everyone who believes in humanity is with us. I thank the people of various countries and their leaders who have stood with us in this time,” he said.
The Prime Minister, who was visiting Saudi Arabia, cut short his trip and returned after the attack on Tuesday afternoon. In his first response to the heinous attack, the worst in Kashmir in the recent past, the Prime Minister had said those behind it won’t be spared.
He chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security last night, during which the Centre decided to crack down on Pakistan diplomatically. New Delhi has said it was putting the Indus Water Treaty on hold and the Integrated Check Post at Attari has been shut. India has said Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme visas and declared defence advisers in the Pakistani High Commission Persona Non Grata. The overall strength of the High Commissions will also be brought down from 55 to 30 by May 1.
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said India has a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism. “We will not only reach the perpetrators of this act but also the actors behind the scenes… The accused will soon see a loud and clear response, I want to assure the country,” he said.
