New Delhi, May 27: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday showered praise on AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi for exposing and unmasking Pakistan over its brazen attempts to spread false propaganda in the wake of Operation Sindoor.

Owaisi, one of the members of the all-party delegation in Kuwait, took a sharp swipe at the Pakistani establishment, saying, ‘it takes brains to copy things properly’.

Reacting to Owaisi’s tirade against Pakistan, Kiren Rijiju shared his video and wrote in Hindi, “Pakistan ki toh poll hi khol di (You exposed Pakistan to the core).”

Rijiju’s praise for Owaisi comes after the latter called Pakistan’s bluff by fact-checking the photograph unveiled by Pakistan Army chief as the one ‘signifying its victory’ over India.

The picture was of China’s 2019 military drill and has been wrongly presented as the Pakistan Army’s recent action.

Owaisi called Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pak Army chief Asim Munir ‘stupid jokers’, highlighting how the top leadership of Pakistan was ‘hiding’ behind a fake memento as a face-saving measure.

The memento that Owaisi referred to was presented to Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif at a high-profile event, attended by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Deputy PM Ishaq Dar.

“Yesterday Pakistan Army chief gave the photo to Pak PM in the presence of the President and the National Assembly Speaker. These stupid jokers want to compete with India. They had given a 2019 photograph of a Chinese Army drill, claiming it was a victory over India. This is what Pakistan indulges in, they can’t even give a proper photograph,” Owaisi told the gathering.

The AIMIM MP, currently in Kuwait as part of India’s diplomatic outreach on the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, further taunted Pakistan’s top leadership for their copycat moves. He said that the Pakistani PM and his Army chief need no brains to copy.

“We used to hear in childhood that ‘nakal karne ke liye akal chahiye’ (copying also requires brains). In nalayakon ke pass toh akal bhi nahi hai (These worthless people don’t even have brains),” he said.

Interestingly, this is not the first instance of Pakistan resorting to misinformation for gaining an ‘upper hand’ in the propaganda war.

Another incident pertaining to Pakistan Deputy PM Ishaq Dar earned him the blushes as he used a fake picture of an article published in a UK daily to praise the Pakistani Air Force. His bluster, when caught by its own media, made the Pakistani establishment a laughing stock before the world.

Srinagar, May 27: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday held a special cabinet meeting in Pahalgam tourist resort to convey a powerful message against terrorism and violence in the aftermath of the cowardly terror attack that claimed 26 lives on April 22.

The choice of the station is to express solidarity with the residents of the tourist town, which has experienced a sharp decline in footfall since the terror attack on April 22.

More important than the agenda on the table of the cabinet meeting is the significance of the meeting’s symbolic communication to anti-national and anti-social elements that violence has no place in Jammu and Kashmir.

This is the first cabinet meeting being held outside the capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu since the Omar Abdullah-headed government took office in October 2024.

During his first stint as the chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from 2009-14, Omar Abdullah had held cabinet meetings in remote areas like Gurez, Machil, Tangdhar of north Kashmir and Rajouri and Poonch areas of Jammu region.

The decision to hold a special cabinet meeting comes two days after CM Omar Abdullah on Saturday proposed a dual approach to resuscitate the Jammu and Kashmir tourism sector, severely impacted by the Pahalgam terror attack, urging the Centre to mandate PSUs to hold meetings in Kashmir and to convene parliamentary committee meetings there.

He made this appeal at the governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sources indicate that the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues will also meet with tourism stakeholders in Pahalgam to gather suggestions on how to revive tourism in the Valley in the aftermath of the April 22 attack.

Holding the cabinet meeting in Pahalgam is seen as a deliberate effort to send the message that there is no cause for concern and that Kashmir remains a safe destination for tourists.

New Delhi, May 27: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday paid tribute to India’s first Prime Minister and his great-grandfather, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, on his death anniversary, saying that the leader’s “legacy and ideals will always guide us”.

Taking to social media platform X, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi wrote, “Respectful tribute to the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ji on his death anniversary. With the dream of a strong and inclusive India, Nehruji laid a strong foundation for independent India with his visionary leadership. His contribution in the establishment of social justice, modernity, education, constitution and democracy is invaluable. The legacy of Jawahar of India and his ideals will always guide us.”

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also remembered her great-grandfather’s contributions to building a progressive and modern India.

In her post, she quoted Nehru himself: “What we think today and what we do create the India of tomorrow.”

She added, “Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru dreamed of an India that would progress with the help of science and technology and compete with the modern world. For this, he laid the foundation of dozens of educational, scientific, industrial, technical, social and economic institutions, which are the backbone of India today and are strengthening India as the pillar of our progress. The country will always remember his great contribution. Heartfelt tribute and salute to the creator of modern India.”

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also paid homage, describing Nehru as the architect of democratic and scientific India.

“‘Citizenship consists in serving the country’ – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Humble tributes on the death anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ji, the creator of modern India, the fearless guardian of democracy, the one who took India from zero to the peak… the one who constantly gave the message of ‘unity in diversity’ to the country, our source of inspiration. 21st century India cannot be imagined without the contribution of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,” Kharge wrote on X.

Pandit Nehru served as the interim head of the government in September 1946. After India’s Independence on August 15, 1947, he was sworn in as the country’s Prime Minister. On that historic day, he delivered his iconic ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech and unfurled the Indian flag at the Red Fort in Delhi.

Nehru, who became Congress President in 1929, made a defining call for complete independence from British rule. He led the country during its formative years post-Independence, shaping India’s democratic institutions and its identity on the global stage.

His final years were marked by declining health. In 1962, a viral infection weakened him, and on May 27, 1964, he died of a suspected heart attack.