Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) [India], April 25 (ANI): The JanaSena Party on Friday organised a protest in Vijayawada against the deadly Pahalgam terrorist attack, which claimed the lives of 26 innocent people, who were mostly tourists on vacation with their families.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and JanaSena Party chief Pawan Kalyan described the incident as a 'ghastly and painful' act of target killing motivated by religious bias. He met with the families of the victims and expressed his outrage over the attack. He said that the incident was part of the 'revival of Hindu genocide' and demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice.

'It was a ghastly and painful incident. Today, after meeting Madhusudan's family and Chandramouli's family, it is very difficult even for me after hearing what they went through...I don't have enough strength to speak. In the name of religion, targeting people. It was a very clear-cut target killing.... from 1986-1989, we used to visit Kashmir for Telugu films, so I knew how the situation had changed from 1986 to 1989...from that particular time to now, I feel it is a revival of Hindu genocide,' he said.

Pawan Kalyan, speaking from Andhra Pradesh, visited the families of victims, two members of the Telugu community, Madhusudan Rao and retired bank employee JS Chandramouli, who lost their lives in the attack.

Rao, a resident of Kavali in Nellore district, was on vacation with his family and was among the 26 tourists killed in the attack. The software engineer, who had been residing in Bengaluru, is survived by his wife and two children.

He urged the central leadership to respond firmly. 'Perpetrators, the terrorists behind this, should be brought to justice... PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Indian government, I believe they will take stern action.'

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hold a meeting regarding the Indus Water Treaty at his residence in the national capital on Friday (this evening).

Besides the Home Minister and the Union Minister for Jal Shakti, CR Patil and other senior government officials will attend this meeting.

Sources told ANI, 'India has formally notified Pakistan in writing about the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty.'

Secretary of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Devashree Mukherjee, has informed the Secretary of Pakistan's Ministry of Water Resources, Syed Ali Murtaza, about this decision of the Indian government through a letter. India has issued a notice of changes to the treaty. The letter states that the Indian government has given notice to the Pakistani government for amendments to the treaty.

The government has temporarily suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan.

This decision was made at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) held on April 23, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and attended by Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

This comes after terrorists attacked tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on April 22, killing 25 Indian nationals and one Nepalese national while leaving several others injured. (ANI)