Gandhinagar (Gujarat): Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a scathing attack while speaking at Gujarat’s capital of Gandhinagar on Tuesday, named and shamed Pakistan – accusing the neighbor of waging a direct war against India, no longer hiding behind the mask of “proxy warfare”.
Talking about Operation Sindoor, India’s counter offensive to Pakistani aggressions following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, Modi exposed what he called “Pakistan’s ultimate hypocrisy” – according state honour to the very terrorists India eliminated in its high precision strike.
“You cannot call this a proxy war anymore. When coffins are draped in Pakistani flags and saluted by their Army, it is not terrorism; it is a war. And if this is war, the response will be accordingly,” the prime minister thundered.
Modi revealed that India’s targeted strikes destroyed nine terror hideouts in just 22 minutes and that it was all recorded live this time.
“This time, everything was captured on camera so nobody can ask for proof,” he said, while taking a direct swipe at skeptics who had demanded visual evidence of previous strikes.
Referring to Partition, he invoked history and claimed Pakistan has been using terrorism as a state weapon since day one. “Had Sardar Patel’s advice been followed”, he said, “PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) would be today with India and 75 years of terror could have been prevented.”
“Pakistan captured part of Kashmir using Mujahideen. If they had been wiped out then, we would not be suffering today. But we tolerated… now the thorn will be removed,” he added.
PM Modi took a dig laced with irony and mocked Pakistan’s panic, adding even India’s cleaning of dams has them sweating. “We have only opened small gates to clean dams, and they are already flooding there,” he said, amid thunderous applause from the crowd.
He also attacked the Indus Waters Treaty and called it a historical blunder that crippled India’s own use of its rivers.
Issuing sharp warnings, PM Modi shifted focus to India’s rise on the global stage and highlighted its leap to becoming the world’s 4th largest economy, overtaking Japan.
“Now, the pressure to become No. 3 is greater than the pride of becoming No. 4. We cannot wait anymore. Modi hai toh mumkin hai (it is possible if Modi is at the helm),” he said.
Calling Operation Sindoor a “people’s movement”, the prime minister urged Indians to boycott foreign products and back ‘Make in India’. He even called out imported Ganesh idols as “unworthy”. “Even our gods are made abroad! Every citizen must now become a soldier in this economic war,” he said.
In perhaps the most emotionally charged moment, Modi channeled the Iron Man of India, “Sardar Patel said do not stop until we get PoK back. No one listened then. But now we have decided that the thorn of terror must be removed,” he roared.
(With ANI inputs)