New Delhi: The Congress party on Sunday said that the government’s consent to a special debate on the Pahalgam terror attack and ‘Operation Sindoor’ in the Lok Sabha on July 28 is a “political victory” for Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who had been continuously raising this issue in Parliament.
What is the matter?
On April 22, 26 tourists and 2 locals lost their lives in a terror attack carried out by four Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in Pahalgam, a major tourist destination in Jammu and Kashmir. There was outrage across the country after this horrific incident. In response to this, the Indian government launched a military action called ‘Operation Sindoor’ on May 7, in which 9 terrorist hideouts located in Pakistan were targeted. However, this operation ended with a unilateral ceasefire on May 10, which the government described as a result of Pakistan’s ‘request’.
Questions on foreign policy
The Congress raised many questions on the central government regarding this ceasefire. The party also asked that when this ceasefire was not officially declared by India or Pakistan, then how did the then US President Donald Trump first announce it on social media? Trump’s claim that he pacified both the nuclear powers by applying trade pressure, was termed by the Congress as a failure of India’s foreign policy and the Modi government was accused of bowing down to the US.
Role of Rahul Gandhi and INDIA Block
Congress and its ally INDIA alliance had demanded a special session of Parliament on this entire issue, which was earlier rejected by the government. But just before the monsoon session, the Congress made it clear that the debate on this subject is ‘non-negotiable’. Finally the government agreed to the debate.
Congress Whip Mohammad Javed said, “This is Rahul Gandhi’s political victory. He had demanded a special session on this issue from the beginning and the government has now agreed to our demand.” Format of debate in Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha speaker has set a total of 16 hours for this debate, in which Congress will get about 3 hours. According to party sources, Rahul Gandhi himself can lead during the debate, and the MPs who will get a chance to speak will be selected by the leadership on the basis of expertise, regional representation and seriousness of the topic.
Eye on Bihar SIR issue too
The Congress also made it clear that due to the debate on Pahalgam and Sindoor, it will not leave behind important issues related to democracy like Bihar SIR (Social Indicator Report). The INDIA alliance demands that there should be a detailed debate on Bihar SIR in Parliament and the government should be forced to do this.
List of questions ready
Congress MP Manoj Kumar said, “The government had accepted the security lapse in the Pahalgam attack in the all-party meeting, so who was responsible and what action was taken? What happened to the terrorists? How much did we lose in Operation Sindoor? And why is the government still silent on the US intervention?”
Citing the example of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, he said that she had rejected American pressure in 1971, then why did the government show inclination now?
