Pahalgam Attack: Opposition Pledges 'Full Support To Govt To Take Any Action', Discusses Security Lapses

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Opposition on Thursday pledged“full support” to the government to take any action against the perpetrators of the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians, mostly tourists, on April 22.

An all-party meeting was convened by the Centre in Parliament to discuss the terror attack on Thursday evening. It was presided over by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh . Union Home Minister Amit Shah , External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister and BJP National President JP Nadda, and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge were present in the meeting.

Opposition unites with Centre

After attending the all-party meet, Lok Sabha LOP Rahul Gandhi said that the Opposition has uniformly decided to support the government.“We have uniformly condemned this act and the opposition gave its full support to the government to take any action,” Gandhi told PTI.

Congress party chief Kharge said,“We all condemned the terror attack. We raised our concern to bring peace in Kashmir and said that we all need to make efforts for that.”

AAP leader Sanjay Singh, while emphasising that a“befitting reply” should be given to the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack, said,“Our innocent tourists have been killed. The terrorists should be answered back in their own language. We have all unanimously agreed that we have to give them a befitting reply for the Pahalgam terror attack.”

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TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said,“We have assured the government that all political parties stand by them in whatever decisions they take for the interest of the country.”

BJD MP Sasmit Patra also echoed the same emotions after the all-party meet concluded.“Over consensus that has come out of this meeting is that all the parties are together on this matter and we support the government fully in whatever actions they take to bring the perpetrators to justice,” he told PTI.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also pledged to“support whatever decision the central government takes” and said it is“not a political issue”.

“The central government can take action against the nation which shelters the terrorist groups. The international law also permits us to do an air and naval blockade in self-defence against Pakistan and impose sanctions on Pakistan on arms sales. Why was the CRPF not deployed at the Baisaran meadow? Why did the quick reaction team take one hour to reach there and they shot people by asking their religion," Owaisi asked.

Also Read | India suspends visa services to Pakistanis after Pahalgam attack

“The false propaganda against the Kashmiris and Kashmiri students should be stopped. I condemn the way the terrorists killed people by asking about their religion. It is very good that the Indus Waters Treaty has been suspended but where will we keep the water? We will support whatever decision the central government takes. This is not a political issue...” ANI quoted him as saying.

Inside the all-party meet

While shedding more light on the agenda of the the all-party meet, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke about the steps taken by the government in the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting.

He also said that Singh emphasised the government's zero-tolerance policy against terrorism .“The government also expressed its intention to take strict action in this regard,” Rijiju said.

He also told PTI that the government assured all leaders of action against terror, and that everyone was briefed by the officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, as well as the Intelligence Bureau on security lapses, and the steps being taken to prevent recurrence of such attacks.

“Pahalgam attack was carried out to vitiate atmosphere when economy was on upswing and tourism was booming,” Rijiju added.

Congress party chief Kharge said the issue of security lapse was also raised at the meeting.“Today, Amit Shah and other invited members from all parties were also present at the meeting led by the Defence Minister. We emphasised the importance of the Prime Minister's presence in the meeting, as his decision is crucial,” Kharge told PTI.

“They said they would brief the Prime Minister. Secondly, we raised the question about the security lapse that occurred despite three-tier security, which led to the killing of many innocent people,” he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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