New Delhi: Top Opposition leaders condemned the terror attack at Pahalgam and condoled the death of 26 people, although some of them also questioned the Union government’s previous claims on the return of normalcy to the Valley and pointed to the obvious intelligence and security failure highlighted by a terror strike in one of the region’s tourist hotspots.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha’s Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi spoke to Union home minister Amit Shah, and both suggested that this was not the time for politics, although Gandhi sought “accountability” from the government and Kharge asked that the perpetrators of the attack be brought to justice. .
Gandhi, who spoke to Shah after the latter reached Srinagar, later said on X: “The whole country is united against terrorism. Instead of making hollow claims of the situation being normal in Jammu and Kashmir, the government should now take accountability and take concrete steps so that such barbaric incidents do not happen in the future and innocent Indians do not lose their lives like this,” he added.
Kharge announced that the Congress Party “unequivocally condemns this cowardly act of terror and those responsible for it in the strongest possible terms. This attack is a direct assault on the unity and integrity of our nation.”
He added: “This is not a time for partisan politics. It is a moment for collective resolve to ensure justice for those who lost their lives and for their grieving families, by bringing the perpetrators of this terror attack to justice.”
But in Lucknow, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav criticised the Union government for its “failure” and inadequate “security arrangements”.
The Congress party has called an emergency meeting of its highest executive body, Congress Working Committee (CWC), according to party general secretary KC Venugopal who paid his last respect to the victims of the attack in Srinagar on Wednesday morning.
And the CPIM politburo issued a statement that said, “The perpetrators of the horrific crime must be apprehended and punished. The police and security forces are under the Central Government. The Central Government must leave no stone unturned in bringing the forces responsible for the dastardly attack to justice. The perpetrators of the crime are the enemies of the nation and more so of the people of Kashmir. It is incumbent on the Central Government to probe all angles of the attack including the lack of security in crowded tourist places.”
Independent MP Kapil Sibal cited the recent speech of Pakistan army chief Asim Munir where the latter described Kashmir as “jugular vein”, to say, “Obviously this is state sponsored, just a week ago it happened (the speech)….I would urge the home minister to name Pakistan as a terrorist state. We should file prosecution in international criminal court, urge in international community to boycott Pakistan.”