Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, May 6: Former Prime Minister and JD(S) Rajya Sabha MP H.D. Deve Gowda on Tuesday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handling of the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, asserting that Modi has taken unprecedented steps by granting full autonomy to the armed forces in pursuing the perpetrators.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Deve Gowda expressed sorrow over the targeted killing of tourists in Kashmir, calling it a “first-of-its-kind” tragedy. “This is the first time tourists have been targeted so brutally. The PM has given the Army complete freedom, and he will not rest until the culprits are brought to justice,” he said.

Highlighting the coordinated national response, he noted that PM Modi held meetings with the Chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. “No previous Prime Minister has given such liberty to the armed forces,” Gowda stated, voicing his and Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s support for the Centre’s actions.

He also welcomed the Centre’s decision to conduct a nationwide caste census, citing the need for systematic internal reservation. “The PM has taken up this issue seriously, unlike Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah who passed 16 budgets but failed to act on the caste census,” Gowda said, accusing the Congress-led state government of inaction.

Targeting Siddaramaiah further, Gowda questioned the representation of backward communities in the Chief Minister’s own office and mocked his stance on social justice. “Let him first show what he has done for the backward classes before lecturing the PM,” he said.

Gowda concluded by reaffirming that the issue is beyond religious lines and that the entire nation, cutting across party divisions, stands united with the armed forces and the Prime Minister.