‘When we take PoK back, our objective will be achieved…’: Uma Bharti lauds Op Sindoor

NEW DELHI: BJP leader and former Union Minister Uma Bharti on Friday said that taking Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir back is on everybody’s mind in the country, and when it is done, “our objective will be achieved.”

In an interview, she said Pakistan’s sponsorship of terrorism will lead to its own downfall.

Asked about Operation Sindoor and some people raising questions, Uma Bharti said she does not want to reply to those making such remarks. She said that those who raise questions defame the country, do not understand what national pride is, and do not deserve to be in politics.

“Our ultimate goal is to reclaim PoK. Our objective will be complete once we take back PoK…I don’t want to answer those who are raising questions on the valour of the Indian Armed Forces…They don’t know how to respect the Indian Armed Forces, and they are not even capable of doing politics…

“Our objective is to take PoK back, and it’s in everybody’s mind. When we reclaim PoK, our objective will be achieved. PoK should be an inalienable part of the nation,” she said.

She underlined that India has consistently fought Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and will eliminate it.

“And the solution to this whole issue of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism is natural justice. When Pakistan is destroyed due to terrorism, it will come to its senses,” she added.

Uma Bharti also referred to the unanimous resolution passed by Parliament in 1994, which declared that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is an integral part of India.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 as a military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed. The Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, leading to the elimination of over 100 terrorists. India repelled subsequent Pakistani aggression and pounded its airbases. India has said that Op Sindoor has not ended and any misadventure by Pakistan will get a befitting response.

Answering queries on the NIA Court’s acquittal of all accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, Uma Bharti said there was “conspiracy to defame Hindus and do politics of appeasement”.

“Those involved in this conspiracy did not care about the country’s prestige. They only cared about power… Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh, and others were targeted… Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit was tortured a lot. Sadhvi Pragya Singh was tortured so brutally that now she is unable even to walk… She was slapped 100 times..,” Uma Bharti said.

“People lost their lives in the 2008 Malegaon blast. Why were their names (Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh) added to it, and why have the real culprits not been arrested yet?… This is a matter of investigation and the real culprits should be arrested,” she said.

On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and 95 others injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque in Malegaon City’s Bhikku Chowk. Eleven people were initially accused, but charges were ultimately framed against seven, including Sadhvi Pragya and Col Purohit.

On July 31 this year, a special NIA court in Mumbai acquitted all seven, ruling that the prosecution had failed to establish the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Significant highs and lows have marked Uma Bharti’s political journey. After leading the BJP to victory in Madhya Pradesh in 2003, ending Digvijaya Singh’s 10-year rule, she was later forced to contest an Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region in 2012. Despite being a prominent Hindutva leader, she was seen as a potential disruptor to the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh.

However, Bharti’s resilience paid off when she won the parliamentary election from Jhansi in 2014 and became a Cabinet minister in Narendra Modi’s government. Her tenure as minister was cut short in 2017, leading her to announce that she wouldn’t contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. (ANI)