Starting the much-awaited debate on the Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor and other issues on behalf of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Congress Deputy Leader in the House Gaurav Gogoi said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh shared a lot of information, but did not mention how five terrorists reached Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22 this year.
Speaking immediately after Rajnath, Gogoi directly took him on, saying, “Rajnath Singh didn’t give information on how terrorists reached Pahalgam and killed 26 people.”
He said the Opposition’s duty was to ask questions for the country. “The country wants to know how terrorists reached Pahalgam… Their intent was to ruin the economy of Kashmir,” said Gogoi. “Their intent was Pakistan and India’s hyphenation.”
Targeting the government over its “failure” to bring to justice those who killed the tourists in Pahalgam, Gogoi said: “The country wants to know and those who lost their families want to know how the government couldn’t catch those terrorists. The country wants to know how these terrorists were given shelter and information… And 100 days later, the government has no answer. You have drones, Pegasus, and security forces, and you couldn’t catch. What kind of arrangement is this? You said that after Article 370, people can go to Kashmir. But we saw unarmed people being killed and it took an hour for an ambulance to reach.”
Targeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gogoi continued: “If anyone has to take the responsibility for this, it is the home minister. You can’t hide behind the L-G. This government can’t hide… This government is so cowardly that they blamed tour operators – that they took people to Baisaran without permission. This is tragic that there is arrogance in the government, and those in power feel no one can ask questions of those who take decisions on intelligence.”
He also said that when the attack happened in Pahalgam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Saudi Arabia, and when he returned, he did not go to Pahalgam, but instead went to Bihar for an election rally. “If anyone went to Pahalgam, it was our leader Rahul Gandhi. If anyone is demanding martyr status for those killed, it is Rahul Gandhi,” said Gogoi.
“Now it comes to Operation Sindoor. I heard Rajnath Singh’s speech. I couldn’t understand what time he was talking about. Did he not say after 2016 that they will enter and attack and end terrorism? He said the same after Pulwama… He is saying the same thing today. He is still saying Operation Sindoor is not complete because Pakistan can attack again,” the Congress MP said.
“How was it successful then? They are saying that their intent was not for war. I say it should have been. They say their intent was not to take land. I ask why? When will we take POK? They say their intent was to attack terror infrastructure there. Did we not do it in Uri and Pulwama? During your time, these attacks happened,” he said.
Claiming to quote senior officers of the Armed forces, Gogoi said: “I want to say what senior officers of our Armed forces are saying. We should have heard them in India. We heard them in Singapore…and gave information to Bloomberg.”
Gogoi said Pakistan was at the front, but it was China who orchestrated the attacks. “I would like to ask Rajnath Singh: Why did you not talk of China in your speech when you claim that you will show red eyes to China? I would like to remind that information on two fronts (China and Pakistan) was given by Rahul Gandhi in this House.” He asked the government how much support China was providing to Pakistan.
On the ceasefire, Gogoi asked why it happened and added: “We ask the PM. Why did you stop if Pakistan was ready to get on its knees? The US president, who has said 26 times, he forced India and Pakistan to end the war using trade… Trump is saying five-six jets fell. They cost so much. We ask how many jets fell.”
Gogoi said “traditional ally countries” of India did not support India in the conflict. He also asked why India could not stop the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) loan to Pakistan. “Don’t you have this much power that you can get Pakistan declared a terror state?,” he asked.
“The country and Opposition are with the government. We speak in favour of our armed forces and the country. Don’t be scared of the truth,” the MP added.
