Border Security Force security personnel stand guard at the Attari-Wagah crossing on the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar, following Tuesday’s attack on tourists near south Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
Credit: Reuters Photo
New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the armed forces have "complete operational freedom" to decide on the response to the Pahalgam terror attack, CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar said on Wednesday that he stands by the government in combatting cross-border terror.
He, however, asserted that a war may not be a solution.
Asked about the prime minister's statement, Kumar said, "We stand with the government of India to combat cross-border terror. We have extended full support also and furthermore, we have demanded a special session of Parliament (to discuss the Pahalgam attack)." He said the terror attack should not be used to divide the society.
"But at the same time, this issue should not be misused to divide the society. There are a number of elements in our country that are trying to divide the society following this Pahalgam incident," the Communist Party of India (CPI) leader said.
"Political wisdom should be the guiding force of all rulers. Military is no solution, the Ukraine-Russia war is one, Gaza on the other side.... These are unending miseries. I do not think that a war is the option to solve these issues," the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, were killed and several injured when terrorists opened fire at a meadow near the popular tourist town of Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district on April 22.
According to sources, at a high-level meeting attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and the chiefs of the three services on Tuesday, Modi told the top defence brass that the armed forces have "complete operational freedom" to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India's response to the Pahalgam terror attack.