Congress Karnataka's Deleted Peace Quote After Operation Sindoor Stirs Controversy

The Karnataka Congress branch briefly posted a Mahatma Gandhi quote about peace on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, only to remove it hours later. The quote, "The most powerful weapon of mankind is peace," appeared shortly after India conducted "Operation Sindoor," launching airstrikes at nine locations inside Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). The military action was in response to an April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 tourists.

BJP Karnataka responded strongly to the deleted post, with State President BY Vijayendra calling it "highly shocking and unfortunate." He demanded answers from Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, questioning whether Congress stood "with Pakistan and terrorists or India."

Following the backlash, Karnataka Congress posted a new message on X praising India's military response: "The Indian Air Force, widely recognised as one of the world's strongest air forces gave a befitting reply to the cowardly Pahalgam Terrorist Attack. We stand with the govt, we stand with our security forces."

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed strong support for the armed forces, saluting their "extraordinary courage" behind Operation Sindoor and stating that "India will never tolerate terror in any form." He described the Pahalgam attack as an assault on "the dreams and spirit of India" and pledged that Karnataka joins the nation in supporting the military's actions.

Similarly, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Congress State President DK Shivakumar endorsed the operation, calling it "a befitting reply to the cowardly Pahalgam terror attack" and affirming support for the government and security forces.