'Exercise in distraction...': Special Parliament session being considered to mark Emergency, says Congress

The Congress has been asking Prime Minister Modi to break his 'silence' on the Trump administration's repeated claims on how the India-Pakistan 'ceasefire' was brought about.

New Delhi: As the Opposition is raising the pitch for a special session on Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, Congress on Thursday claimed that the Narendra Modi-led BJP government appears to be planning a special session next month to mark 50 years of Emergency, which it said will be "another classic exercise in diversion and distraction from real and more urgent issues.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh recalled that his party since April 22, hours after the attack in Pahalgam, has been seeking an all-party meeting on the terror strike and their fallout chaired by the Prime Minister himself but it is "yet to take place". Modi did not attend two all-party meetings held after April 22 though Opposition parties demanded his presence.

He said Leaders of Opposition Rahul Gandhi (Lok Sabha) and Mallikarjun Kharge (Rajya Sabha) wrote to the Prime Minister requesting for a special session of Parliament to be convened and to demonstrate the nation’s collective resolve through a resolution. The Prime Minister has "not accepted" that suggestion as well, he posted on X.

"Now it appears that a special session of Parliament is being considered for June 25-26 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency,” he said.

“This will be yet another classic exercise in diversion and distraction from real and more urgent issues by the PM -- the man who has placed the nation under an undeclared Emergency for 11 years and the man who refuses to answer why the Pahalgam terrorists are still absconding, why he allowed President Trump to broker a ceasefire, and why he gave a clean chit to China publicly on 19 June, 2020?" Ramesh said.

Besides Congress, parties like RJD, Samajwadi Party, CPI(M) and CPI have demanded a Special Session of Parliament to discuss Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor, ceasefire, Pakistan targeting civilians in Poonch, Rajouri99 and Uri and other related issues.

The Opposition also questions the government over the US President's repeated claims that he mediated the ceasefire though the government insists that only the Directors General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan were involved in it.

Separately, Ramesh said the country is witnessing "undeclared emergency" since 2014 and Modi wants to call a special session for what happened 50 years ago. Ramesh alleged that it was to divert attention from the present day's problems. "When they should be targeting Pakistan and terrorists, the BJP is only interested in targeting and attacking the Congress," he said.

Ramesh also said the resolution of February 1994 on Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir should be reiterated and updated in view of India and Pakistan both becoming nuclear powers and new challenges having emerged.