Operation Sindoor: Karnataka Congress posts Mahatma Gandhi quote on peace, deletes it after airstrikes, lauds IAF later

The Karnataka unit of Congress on Wednesday posted a Mahatma Gandhi quote emphasising peace on its social media handle and deleted it later. "The most powerful weapon of mankind is peace - Mahatma Gandhi," the Congress posted on its handle on social media X (formerly Twitter). They posted it hours after India carried out an air strike at nine locations inside Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) as part of its 'Operation Sindoor' to avenge the killing of 26 tourists in a terrorist attack at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir.

The party later lauded the Indian Air Force in another post. "The Indian Air Force (IAF), widely recognised as one of the world's strongest air forces, gave a befitting reply to the cowardly #PahalgamTerroristAttack. We stand with the govt, we stand with our security forces. #OperationSindoor," Congress said.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Congress state president D K Shivakumar called India's response to Pahalgam "befitting". "#OperationSindoor is a befitting reply to the cowardly Pahalgam terror attack. We stand with the govt, we stand with our security forces. Jai Hind," Shivakumar said in a post on X.

The BJP state chief Vijayendra, flayed the Karnataka unit of Congress, saying every Indian welcomes India's retaliatory action. "We feel proud and we stand by Indian soldiers, but unfortunately, the Congress party in Karnataka is advocating peace at this juncture," he told reporters here. He termed Congress's deleted post shocking.

"Every Indian is feeling proud about the move by our Indian soldiers. The stand by the Congress party is very unfortunate, and I demand an apology from the Congress party to the people of this country," Vijayendra said.

In the Pahalgam tragedy, in which 26 innocent lives were lost, every Indian wanted a strong step by the Indian government and the armed forces. In the wee hours of Wednesday, Indian armed forces hit nine different terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan, he stated.

The BJP leader said a large number of soldiers lost their lives in Jammu and Kashmir, and thousands of Indian families have been displaced from Jammu and Kashmir. Stating that people are fed up with terrorist activities, Vijayendra said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been advocating strong action against terrorism, against terrorist groups on global platforms, and now the time has come where a strong decision needs to be taken, and I feel India has taken the right step at this point.

Taking to X, Vijayendra said that in a clinical and precise operation, the Indian Army has begun avenging the targeted killings of Hindus in Pahalgam.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)