India helps even those countries that once waged war against it: Mohan Bhagwat
Surat (PTI): Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said that due to the principles laid down by our ancestors, India helps even those countries that once waged a war against it.
He also said that India had the option to retaliate against Pakistan for its misadventure in Kargil in 1999, but the government at that time had instructed the army not to cross the border for attack.
Bhagwat was addressing an event here organised by the Jain community, where Jain religious leader Acharya Mahashraman was also present.
"Due to our commitment to upholding the principles laid down by our ancestors, India extends its support to the countries that have previously waged a war against us but are currently facing a crisis. We do not initiate attacks, nor do we tolerate any attack on us," he said.
"When Pakistan attacked us during the Kargil war, India had the option to retaliate against our neighbour if we had chosen to do so. However, our army received clear instructions not to cross the border. The army was directed to target only those who were within our borders," Bhagwat stated.
Referring to the surgical strike and air strike inside Pakistan by India, he said India made sure that only trouble-makers were targeted.
"When we struck them inside their own home, we did not target the entire Pakistan. We only attacked those who were creating trouble for us," the Sangh chief said.
India carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in September 2016. In February 2019, the Indian Air Force carried out an aerial strike in Pakistan's Balakot airstrike in retaliation to the Pulwama terror attack.
Without giving any specific example about issues being faced by India or the world at present, Bhagwat said people of India will eventually fix every problem.
"Today, many people are feeling anxious and concerned about the future due to the current situation. But there is no need to be scared. We all will fix these issues and the world will fix itself after getting inspired by us," he said.
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Israeli strike on school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza kills 15
Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip), Oct 17: An Israeli strike on a school sheltering the displaced in northern Gaza on Thursday killed at least 15 people, including five children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad group who had gathered at the Abu Hussein school in Jabaliya, an urban refugee camp in northern Gaza where Israel has been waging a major air and ground operation for more than a week.
In a separate development, a building in central Beirut that houses offices of the Al Jazeera news network and the Norwegian Embassy was evacuated after a warning.
Al Jazeera reported that the building had been evacuated without saying where the warning had come from. Israel has ordered the evacuation of several buildings, as well as entire cities, towns and villages, as it strikes what it says are targets linked to the Hezbollah group.
There have also been several instances of evacuation warning calls and text messages that turned out to be bogus, which Lebanese security agencies say they are investigating.
In northern Gaza, Fares Abu Hamza, head of the ministry's local emergency unit, confirmed the toll from the Israeli strike and said dozens of people were wounded. He said the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital was struggling to treat the casualties.
"Many women and children are in critical condition,” he said.
The Israeli military said it targeted a command centre run by both groups inside the school. It provided a list of around a dozen names of people it identified as group members who were present when the strike was called in. It was not immediately possible to verify the names.
Israel has repeatedly struck tent camps and schools sheltering displaced people in Gaza. The Israeli military says it carries out precise strikes on group members and tries to avoid harming civilians, but its strikes often kill women and children.
Hamas-led group triggered the war when they stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. Some 100 captives are still inside Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel's offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says women and children make up a little more than half of the fatalities.
