Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday strongly criticised past decisions made during the Partition of India, asserting that the current wave of terrorism—including the May 22 terror attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam—could have been prevented if the advice of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had been followed in 1947.
Speaking at an event in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, PM Modi said, “In 1947, Mother India was torn into pieces. The chains should have been broken, but instead, our arms were cut off. That night, the first terrorist attack took place on the soil of Kashmir. Pakistan captured a part of India with the help of terrorists, calling them Mujahideen.”
The Prime Minister claimed that Sardar Patel, then India’s Deputy Prime Minister, had advocated for the Indian armed forces to continue their advance until they reclaimed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). “Patel wanted our forces to go all the way and not stop until PoK was ours. But no one listened to him. If they had, the terror India has endured for the past 75 years would have ended back then.”
PM Modi linked Patel’s unheeded warning to recent incidents of terrorism, including the Pahalgam attack. “What happened in Pahalgam is just another chapter in the long saga that started in 1947. We’ve suffered for decades because we didn’t finish the job when we had the chance,” he said.
Comparing terrorism to a persistent wound, Modi added, “No matter how strong a body is, even a single thorn can cause constant pain. We have now resolved to remove that thorn.”
He also took aim at Pakistan’s longstanding strategy, stating that while India had defeated Pakistan in war three times, Islamabad had turned to proxy terrorism after failing on the battlefield. “Pakistan realised it couldn’t win against India in war, so it resorted to proxy attacks. They kept striking wherever possible, and we tolerated it for years,” Modi remarked.
The Prime Minister’s comments came during a two-day visit to his home state of Gujarat—his first since India launched Operation Sindoor, a military strike targeting terrorist infrastructure across the border.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi held a roadshow and laid the foundation stone for several development projects in Gandhinagar. His fiery remarks underscore the government’s hardened stance on cross-border terrorism and the legacy of unresolved conflict over PoK.