Gandhinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel did not want a ceasefire until the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) was reclaimed in 1947. He pointed out that the Pahalgam terror attack was the result of not taking PoK back from Pakistan immediately after the partition. Notably, Sardar Patel, known as the "Iron Man of India", played a crucial role not only in India's freedom struggle but also in merging princely states with India. He was the first Home Minister of India.
Taking a veiled dig at India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's decision of ceasefire, PM Modi said that Sardar Patel's advice was "disregarded". He stated that the opportunity to take back the PoK was missed by not listening to Sadar Patel's suggestion.
"In 1947, when Maa Bharti was partitioned, ‘katni chahiye thi zanjeerein par kaat di gayi bhujayein’ (When the Partition happened in 1947; the chains should have been cut at that time, but instead, the country was divided into three parts). Soon after, the first terrorist attack was reported in Kashmir, and Pakistan occupied one part of Kashmir," PM Modi said.
"If we had killed these Mujahideens; if we had listened to Sardar Patel, he wanted the Army to not stop until we get back PoK... For 75 years, we suffered, and what happened in Pahalgam was a distorted form of that attack. The Indian Army has defeated Pakistan every time. Pakistan understood that it cannot win from India," he added.
Months after the partition, thousands of tribal fighters from Pakistan backed by its army entered Jammu and Kashmir with the aim of forcefully annexing the state. However, India launched a military operation in October 1947 to throw out the intruders. In 1949, a ceasefire was announced and the Line of Control (LoC) became the de facto border between India and Pakistan in Kashmir, giving birth to PoK.
Notably, Sardar Patel was in favour of reclaiming the entire J&K and was against the decision of approaching the United Nations.
PM Modi On Pakistan's Proxy War:
PM Modi said terrorism practised by Pakistan is not a proxy war but a deliberate war strategy and India will respond accordingly. Pakistan is engaging in war through terrorism, the Prime Minister said, while speaking about Operation Sindoor at the urban development programme of the Gujarat Government.
"We can't call this a proxy war as those who were killed on May 6 night (in Indian strikes on terror camps in Pakistan) were given state honours in Pakistan. Pakistani flags were draped over their coffins, and their military saluted them," he stated.
"This proves that these terrorist activities are not just a proxy war but a deliberate war strategy on their part. If they engage in war, then the response will be accordingly," PM Modi added.
