Pakistan would be 'wiped out' if it continued anti-India operations: Anurag Thakur

Hamirpur: Former Union minister and BJP leader Anurag Thakur on Monday lashed out at Pakistan for "fomenting troubles" on the borders and said that if Pakistan continued with such anti-India operations, it would be "wiped out".

The BJP leaders in Shimla submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner, urging him to immediately identify the Pakistanis living here both legally and illegally and ensure that they are sent back. The BJP workers and leaders also took out a protest march in the Lower Bazaar area of the town, raising anti-Pakistan slogans.

Himachal Pradesh BJP chief Rajiv Bindal said Pakistanis cannot be kept in the state and protests are being held at 17 places in the state. If the state government did not identify Pakistanis living in the state and ensure their repatriation, the BJP would launch a 'Jagaran Abhiyan' in the coming days, he said.

Addressing a district-level rally organised by the party at Gandhi Chowk here to protest against the terrorist attack on tourists at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed at least 26 lives, Thakur said that the Union Government has made it clear that a befitting reply would be given at the right time.

He said that if Pakistan continued with anti-India operations, it would be "wiped out" from the world polity.

In view of the brutal killings in Pahalgam, the Narendra Modi government has taken many diplomatic steps against Pakistan, including the decision to send back Pakistani citizens living in India officially or unofficially, Thakur, the sitting MP from Hamirpur Lok Sabha said.

This work is going on at a rapid pace in many states, but sadly the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh is not at all serious about finding and sending back the Pakistani citizens living in Himachal and therefore, the party decided to protest at every district on Monday, he said.

He said that on one hand, the Congress is extending its support to the government's decision to ban various facilities to Pakistan while on the other, its leaders are still making "irrelevant statements".

Protests were also held in Kullu, Una, Lahaul and Spiti and other places in the state.