Mumbai: Actor Anupam Kher called himself and his family victims of terrorism and commended the Narendra Modi-led government for launching Operation Sindoor against terror facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking to India Today, he recalled the plight of Kashmiri Pandits who were forced to leave their homes on the night of January 19, 1990. He expressed his feelings of anger rather than helplessness, especially after seeing distressing visuals such as a woman sitting beside her deceased husband immediately after the Pahalgam attack on April 22. He felt as angry as any other Indian, Kher said.
“I am a victim of terrorism. My family is a victim of terrorism. For 32 years, nothing happened to the Kashmiri pandits, who had to leave their homes one night on January 19, 1990. And then again, there’s something like this (referring to the Pahalgam incident) happening after the abrogation of Article 370. Lots and lots of people are going over there. I have stopped feeling helpless. I get angry because when I see the visual of a woman sitting next to her dead husband, it makes me angry like any other common Indian,” he said.
On the government’s retaliation by launching Operation Sindoor, the actor said: “You expect your government or your leadership to act and when they did that, I felt vindicated. I don’t know whether that’s the right word, but I did feel that that’s how it should have happened. Within two days, we knew what happened there. People have their own theories, but now we are getting to know the facts and how precise our attack was.”
Kher also appreciated the Indian Armed Forces for their precise attack on nine terror bases in Pakistan. “How wonderful our defence forces are. How intelligence worked. It is the leadership which takes the decision. Unfortunately, when 26/11 happened in Mumbai, the leadership did not do anything about it. Now we know that we have people who will not allow things to be taken for granted,” he explained.
