Kolkata: Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Parliament, Rahul Gandhi visited Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch. It is a region which was battered by Pakistani shelling, with the army of the neighbouring country not sparing civilians as its target.
Poonch witnessed the loss of innocent lives during the recent India-Pakistan conflict. After the Indian Armed Forces conducted ‘Operation Sindoor’ and targeted only the terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, the neighbouring country did not hold back in not honouring the code of war and attacked innocent civilians. Poonch, one of the border areas, bore the brunt of those attacks.
Civilians including children lost their lives, parts of home were reduced to rubble as Pakistani shelling pounded a region that is bounded by the Line of Control on three sides (north, west and south). Gandhi shared a video from his official X (Twitter) account, where he can be seen interacting with the local people of Poonch and listening to their tale of horror and grief.
In the video, people can be seen describing the attacks of Pakistan as harrowing. The visuals of destroyed houses and cars show the kind of storm Poonch withered as the Indian Armed Forces tried it best to shield the civilians. When Gandhi asked the locals about the attack, one person informed that at least five shells struck there, and the people were scared for their lives, a sentiment which is echoed by others in the video.
पुंछ का दर्द वहां जा कर ही महसूस होता है।
टूटे आशियाने, बिखरी जिंदगियां – इस दर्द की गूंज से भी बस एक आवाज़ आती है – हम हिन्दुस्तानी एक हैं।
आग्रह नहीं, सरकार को ज़िम्मेदारी की याद दिला रहा हूं – पाकिस्तान की गोलाबारी से प्रभावित पुंछ और अन्य इलाकों के लिए ठोस, उदार और… pic.twitter.com/j4xWfvFQbn
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 29, 2025
‘Nobody cared for us’
The video showed the damage that Poonch’s ward number 3 endured on May 7 when Pakistan resorted to non-stop shelling throughout the night. Out of the 20 to 25 houses in the ward damaged by the attack, the home of one ‘Sheikh Saab’ faced the heat the most. One person complained that while many politicians had visited Poonch, nobody “really cared” about their condition.
Rahul Gandhi visited the battered homes, met the people living in them. He listened to their painful stories, their nightmarish accounts, and their demands. They only hope to go back to their normal life, without any fear. One person said how his family invested a good amount of money on building a home. Now, with half the abode destroyed and dreams crushed under the tattered bricks, he asked how they will educate their children and run the family, as the savings will be used to fix the damages.
The children who could not escape
The Pakistani shelling did not spare Zain and Zoya, the 12-year-old twins who tried to escape the shelling, until they couldn’t. Deaths like these haunt the people, as the camera walked through the lanes flanked by buildings standing as ghosts of their jubilant past. Gandhi also talked with the children, consoled them, and assured them as people watched with hope and faith.
Vihaan Bhargav, a 14-year-old boy was fleeing with his parents in the car when it was hit by shelling. Vihaan, who loved anime, did not survive. However, his drawings have, showing glimpses of a talent that was taken away from us too soon.
The shelling did not spare Singh Sabha Gurudwara, where four people from different families were killed. The Gurudwara, once a refuge for peace and warmth, has now become a symbol of Poonch’s strength and resilience.
Pakistan did not spare children, women, religious places. The people in Poonch live in fear, but they also demand justice. As Rahul Gandhi said, “Everything will be normal”, a hope shared by every person in the region. In the end, Gandhi said that his aim behind the visit is to know the situation there, so that he can raise the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in the Parliament.
As he posted on X, “The pain in the tail can be felt only after going there. Broken homes, shattered lives – even from the echo of this pain, only one voice comes out – we Indians are one. I am not requesting, but reminding the government of its responsibility – a concrete, generous and immediate relief and rehabilitation package should be prepared for Poonch and other areas affected by Pakistani shelling. This is not help, it is a duty.”
