Operation Sindoor | 'War not a solution, terrorists must be hunted down': Raj Thackeray

Mumbai: Known for taking independent stand on different issues, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray raised political eyebrows on Wednesday when he said that “war cannot be a response against terrorist attacks” - hours after the Indian armed forces targetted militant camps across the border.

Raj, the nephew of late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray, said that the group of terrorists, who executed the Pahalgam terror strike, are roaming free.

“War is no answer to a terrorist attack. In the United States after terrorists toppled the Twin Towers and attacked the Pentagon, the US did not wage a war. They killed those terrorists," the MNS chief said.

"You have not found the terrorists who carried out the attack. Why was there no security in a place where thousands of tourists are going for the last many years? It is more important to carry out a combing operation inside our country and find them out. The airstrike, distracting people....this war can not be the solution," Raj said in a brief interaction with reporters.

Raj also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying when the Pahalgam assault took place he was in Saudi Arabia, but he cut short the tour, returned to India and went for an “election campaign” in Bihar.

“Then the PM went to inaugurate the Adani Group’s (Vizhinjam) port in Kerala followed by the WAVES conclave (in Mumbai) pertaining to the entertainment industry. There was no need for all this. These programmes could have been avoided in such a critical situation,” he said,

Asked about the codename of the strikes - ’Operation Sindoor’, Raj said that nothing is achieved by such titles, but what matters is the kind of steps the government is taking to resolve the problem of terror. “Find the terrorists, dismantle their networks, and tackle the drug menace that is spreading through our streets," he said.