Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has decided to “adopt” nearly two dozen children who lost their parents during the India-Pakistan conflict following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
According to Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Tariq Hamid Karra, Gandhi will bear the educational expenses of 22 children in Poonch, who lost both their parents or the family’s sole bread-winner in Pakistani shelling.
Karra said the first instalment of the aid would be released on Wednesday to enable the children to continue their studies. “The assistance will continue till these children graduate,” he added.
Gandhi, during a visit to Poonch in May, asked local party leaders to compile a list of affected children. Subsequently, a survey was conducted and the names of the children were finalised after cross-checking government records.
Gandhi also visited the Christ Public School, whose students — 12-year-old twins Urba Fatima and Zain Ali — were among the casualties. “I feel very, very proud of you. You miss your little friends. I’m very sorry about that. Now, you feel a little bit of danger, a little frightened, but don’t worry, everything will go back to normal… Your way of responding to this should be to study really hard, play really hard and make a lot of friends in school,” he told the children.
Poonch town was one of the worst-affected by cross-border shelling, with around half a dozen children injured following shelling on a religious school, Zia ul Aloom. Among the victims was Vihaan Bhargav who was killed by shrapnel while his family was trying to leave the town.
