Rahul Gandhi to adopt 22 J&K children who were orphaned in Pak shelling during Op Sindoor

Rahul Gandhi, India's Leader of Opposition, is going to adopt 22 children of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch region who were orphaned due to Pakistani shelling in the region during Operation Sindoor. Gandhi will take care of the education of these children and will support them until they graduate, as per The Indian Express report quoting Ammu and Kashmir Congress chief Tariq Hamid Karra. The first instalment of the aid will be released by Gandhi this week and will ensure the kids can continue their schooling without any issues.

Gandhi visited Poonch in May after Operation Sindoor paused and demanded a list of children who were affected by the conflict. After this, a survey was conducted in the region and a list with the names of these children was finalised after cross-checking the government data.

Gandhi had also visited the Christ Public School during his visit and met classmates of Urba Fatima and Zain Ali, 12-year-old twins who died in the shelling. Poonch, one of the regions hit hardest by the Pakistani shelling, saw several civilians, including children, injured.

“I feel very, very proud of you. You miss your little friends. I’m very sorry about that. Now, you feel a little bit of danger and a little frightened, but don’t worry; everything will go back to normal. Your way of responding to this should be to study really hard, play really hard and make a lot of friends in school,” Gandhi said to the kids, IE reported.

Operation Sindoor

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to the April 22 Pahlagam attack in Jammu and Kashmir during which terrorists opened fire and killed 26 people, including 25 tourists. During the operation, India targeted nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Around 100 terrorists were killed in the operation after which both countries reached a ceasefire on May 10.