Capture PoK, that would be best tribute to Pahalgam attack victims: Bitta

Bhavnagar: All India Anti Terrorist Front chairman M S Bitta on Thursday said it was time India gave a befitting reply to Pakistan for repeatedly stabbing it in the back, stressing that the government should capture Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Bitta was in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar city to meet the family members of Yatish Parmar and his son Smit Parmar, who were among the 26 persons killed by terrorists near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district on April 22.

After visiting the two victims’ relatives at their home in the city’s Kaliyabid area, Bitta said the best tribute the Indian government can offer to those who lost their lives would be by capturing Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

“Be it the Mumbai terror attack, the Parliament attack or serial bomb blasts in the past. Pakistan has stabbed us in the back several times. Now, the time has come to give it a befitting reply. Capturing PoK would be the best tribute to these martyrs. I urge the government to take back PoK,” Bitta told reporters.

He termed Pakistan-sponsored terrorism as cancer and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to wipe it out from the country.

Bitta emphasised that the issue should not be politicised and said the opposition must stand in solidarity with the Prime Minister.

He thanked Gujarat for giving leaders like PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to the nation.

“Both Modi and Shah removed Article 370 and established peace in Kashmir. Though there were some exchanges of bullets, the overall situation was normal,” said Bitta.

Referring to the Pahalgam attack, he hinted at "deficiencies" in intelligence gathering.

“Whenever I come to Gujarat, local police always remain alert during my visit, even though I don’t face any threat here. This was missing in Kashmir. There was a lack of local intelligence, and no police personnel were present at the site to protect the unarmed tourists,” he claimed.

Yatish Parmar and his son Smit were among 20 persons from Bhavnagar who had gone to Kashmir on April 16 to attend religious preacher Morari Bapu’s discourse in Srinagar.