Deve Gowda extends full support to decisions taken by PM to punish perpetrators of terror attack
Bengaluru (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday said that he and his party-- JD(S) -- extend full support to the decisions that will be taken by PM Narendrra Modi and the central government to punish the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack and those behind them.
The JD(S) patriarch said that politics should not be mixed in this matter and everyone should "extend the support of unity" to the decisions taken by the PM and the Centre.
"Regarding the Kashmir incident, the central government will take a decision. For the first time terrorists have indulged in such a violent act on tourists. The government has information in its hands that the terrorist attack was carried out with the support of Pakistan," Gowda said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the entire country and its 140 crore people have said in one voice that they will support the action that will be taken by the central government under the leadership of PM Modi.
"I as a citizen, as the President of JD(S) which is part of the NDA and a member of Rajya Sabha, along with our Minister in the cabinet H D Kumaraswamy and our party's floor leader and MP Mallesh Babu have said that we extend full support to all decisions that will be taken by the central government on this matter," he said.
India has turned up the heat on Pakistan with what is seen as retaliatory measures after the carnage in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22 that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.
Responding to a question about whether he received any call from the PM following the incident, Gowda said he had not received any call, and if need be, he would share his opinion in writing.
To a question on discussions about war and his opinion on waging a war against Pakistan, Gowda said he cannot say as of now as to what will happen in the future, and the PM will take a decision depending on the situation, and the entire country has faith in it.
"Modi's leadership is respected by the entire country and around the world. Several countries and its leaders, including US President Donald Trump, have condemned the incident and have extended support for India," he said.
Further stating that politics should not be mixed in the issue, the former PM said everyone should "extend the support of unity" to the decision taken by the prime minister.
"We should show our unity. Such incidents should not happen in the future for any reason. The perpetrators should be found and punished and those behind it should also be punished. In this regard what decision the PM, Defence Minister and Home Minister takes, my party and I are committed to it," he added.
Asked about some Congress leaders trying to mix politics in the issue and his advice to them, Gowda said AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge has already said that his party will stand by the prime minister.
"As a senior leader, what he (Kharge) has said has value. I don't want to say more. I think Congress' cooperation is also there," he added.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
