Aishanya Dwivedi, wife of Jammu and Kashmir terror attack victim Shubham Dwivedi, expressed deep disappointment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not mention the 26 victims of the Pahalgam attack in his speech.
Dwivedi noted that Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi mentioned the 26 victims of the Pahalgam attack.
“One thing that hurt me the most was that the Prime Minister made no mention of those 26 people. Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi did mention them, and I thank them for that. I was expecting the Prime Minister to acknowledge those 26 victims, but he didn’t,” she told the news agency while responding to PM Modi’s speech on Tuesday.
She added that the Prime Minister spoke in detail about the Pahalgam attack after the Opposition raised questions about the government’s response.
“Then Operation Sindoor took place. When the operation was paused, they again started asking why nothing was being done. The Prime Minister said the government has been doing everything it can and doesn’t need to prove its actions repeatedly,” she said.
She further stated that the decision for a ceasefire must have been taken solely by the Indian government, keeping in mind the interests of our Armed Forces, and emphasized that no third country should have had any role in it. “Our nation is fully capable of making its own decisions,” she said.
On Monday, when the Army eliminated three terrorists in an encounter near Srinagar — who were allegedly involved in the Pahalgam attack — Dwivedi told the media that while the pain will never fully go away, the action brings “some peace.”
“I’m somewhat relieved — it’s a good start. At the end of the day, the pain will never go, and there may never be complete closure. But at least, this brings us some peace,” said Dwivedi, who was vacationing with her husband and family in Pahalgam when the terror attack occurred.
Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, lost their lives and several others were injured when terrorists opened fire at a meadow near the popular tourist destination of Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on April 22. In response to the deadly attack, India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting 11 Pakistani airbases.
Amid Opposition demands for a detailed discussion, the Parliament debated the attack and India’s retaliatory action in both Houses on Monday and Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi elaborated on India’s precision strikes against Pakistan and also addressed a range of related issues — from former U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated claims about India-Pakistan ceasefire efforts to the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which he referred to as a long-standing strategic vulnerability for India. (Agencies)
