New Delhi:
The government today accused Pakistan of “targeting places of worship” In India and said several “gurudwaras, convents and temples” along the border in Jammu and Kashmir were damaged by Pakistani shelling.
“We have seen the Pakistani side targeting and shelling the places of worship with a particular design. It included Gurudwaras, convents and temples. This is a new low even for Pakistan,” said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in a joint briefing with Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.
The strained ties between India and Pakistan broke down after 26 people were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22. India has blamed Pakistan for the attack, a charge refuted by Islamabad.
As a response to the attack, India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, hitting nine terror bases in Pakistan. Since the strikes, heavy shelling by Pakistan has been reported from the forward areas of Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch and Rajouri districts. Track updates here.
On Thursday evening, India thwarted Pakistan’s attempts to strike military sites and multiple cities in northern and western regions of the country.
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“New Low Even For Pak”
Condemning the firing along the border by Pakistan on May 7, Mr Misri said, “During heavy shelling across the Line of Control, a shell fired from Pakistan landed just behind the Christ School run by the Carmalites of the Mary Immaculate Congregation in Poonch. Tragically, the shell fired from Pakistan hit the home of two students of the Christ School.”
Both students lost their lives, and their parents were severely injured.
“Another Pakistani shell struck a Christian convent of nuns belonging to the congregation of Mother Carmel, damaging water tanks and destroying solar panel infrastructures. Nuns, school staff and local residents took refuge in an underground hall beneath the school during the shelling by Pakistan. The school was closed at the time of the incident, fortunately. Otherwise, more losses would have occurred,” Mr Misri added.
He accused the Pakistani side of targeting and shelling the places of worship with a particular design. “It included Gurudwaras, these convents and temples. This is a new low even for Pakistan.”
“Deranged Fantasy”
The foreign secretary also reacted to Pakistan’s claims that New Delhi was itself targeting Indian cities, including Amritsar and was trying to blame Islamabad. Pakistan had also said that it did not attack any religious place.
“You would recall that yesterday, I shared an incident related to the attack on a Gurudwara in Poonch. Instead of owning up to these attacks, Pakistan made the preposterous and outrageous claim that it was the Indian Armed Forces and the Indian Air Force that were targeting cities like Amritsar and trying to blame Pakistan. This is nothing but a desperate attempt by Pakistan to disown its acts of aggression, and it is consistent with their pattern of deceiving and misleading the world. It will not succeed,” Mr Misri said.
“The Gurudwara in Poonch, in particular, was attacked by Pakistan, and some local members of the Sikh community, including a Ragi of the Gurdwara, lost their lives in this incident, as I shared yesterday,” he added.
The government also termed Pakistan’s claims against India of attacking its own cities as a “deranged fantasy”.
“(The claim that) We would attack our own cities is the kind of deranged fantasy that only the Pakistani state could come up with. Perhaps they do it because they are well-versed in such actions as their history would show,” the foreign secretary said.
He also reacted to the “disinformation campaign” from the Pakistani side.
“The last point I wanted to make this evening is regarding the disinformation coming from Pakistan about India targeting the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara through a drone attack. This is yet another blatant lie and part of Pakistan’s disinformation campaign. As we saw in the Pahalgam attack, Pakistan is again desperately trying to give a communal hue to the situation with the intention to create discord.”
“Again, we are not surprised. India’s steadfast unity is a challenge to Pakistan,” he said.
Yesterday, Pakistan attempted to hit military stations in Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur and several other locations with missiles and drones. India used S-400 Triumph missile systems, Barak-8 missiles, Akash surface-to-air missiles, and DRDO’s anti-drone technologies to thwart the attempt, highly-placed sources said.
As a safeguard against possible air strikes in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, blackouts were enforced in several cities.
