Rahul Gandhi visits Poonch, interacts with students affected by cross-border shelling

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday reached out to school students here who lost two of their mates — 12-year-old twins Zain Ali and Urwa Fatima — to Pakistani shelling, consoling as well as encouraging them to "study hard, play hard and make lots of friends".

"Don't worry, everything will come back to normal," he said while interacting with the friends of the two deceased children.

During an hour-long tour of Poonch town — which was bruised by heavy shelling from across the LoC during the India-Pakistan military standoff earlier this month, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha interacted with the students of the convent school.

Though the school escaped the shelling between May 7 and 10 that left 28 dead and over 70 others injured, its two students died in Poonch town on May 7. They were among the 13 civilians who died in Poonch district — the worst-hit by the shelling.

"You've seen a bit of danger; you've seen a bit of a frightening situation. But don't worry, everything will come back to normal. And your way of responding to this problem should be that you study really hard, you play really hard and you make a lot of friends in school. Okay? Will you do that? Good," Gandhi told the students of Christ School.

His presence at the school brightened up the students who were seen clapping and waving at him. "Big hug to all of you. Love you and thank you," he said before leaving.

He visited the families of those who lost their lives in the shelling and inspected damage to the houses and religious places, including a gurdwara.

Accompanied by party leaders, including AICC general secretary in-charge of the party's Jammu and Kashmir affairs Syed Naseer Hussain, AICC general secretary GA Mir, J-K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra and former ministers Vikar Rasool Wani and Lal Singh, Gandhi paid obeisance at Singh Sabha Gurdwara.

When Gandhi was leaving the gurdwara, a man in the crowd expressed his faith in the Congress leader to raise their voice at the national level.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not even mention Poonch during his address to the nation in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor but we have faith that you will raise our issue," he said.

During an interaction with a young girl whose house was badly damaged, she told Gandhi that they were five sisters and their father died 16 years ago. Recounting the horrifying experience, the girl said they were on the ground floor when the shell hit the house and they had a miraculous escape.

Some residents sought Gandhi's intervention in enhancing the compensation for their damaged houses.