Operation Sindoor debate | Mallikarjun Kharge demands Kargil-like probe into Pahalgam intelligence failure

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday demanded a review of the intelligence failure of the Pahalgam attack and sharing of the review report with the Parliament besides questioning the Prime Minister on how the ceasefire was arrived at between India and Pakistan after four days of hostilities.

“We demand a probe into the intelligence failure in such a sensitive area. Like the Kargil Review Committee report, it should be placed in the Parliament. Don’t hide everything and find out the faults,” Kharge, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said while participating in a discussion on Operation Sindoor.

Questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who Kharge claimed didn’t respond to queries in the last 11 years, the veteran opposition leader said Modi should “listen” to opposition queries and “respond” rather than “intervening” in the debates.

“What were the conditions for a ceasefire? Was there any interference by the US? Did the US President mediate the ceasefire? The US President has stated 29 times that he used trade as a leverage to broker a peace deal between India and Pakistan. Was there any nuclear threat or any other form of blackmail leading to the ceasefire,” he asked.

Questioning Modi’s silence when BJP MPs and ministers insulted the armed forces, Kharge tore into BJP for eulogising the Prime Minister and treating him like God.

“Democratically-elected people should be respected but should not be equated to God,” he noted.

Citing Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha's statement in which he took the responsibility of the “security lapse” Kharge said Home Minister Amit Shah must take responsibility for the security failure that led to the Pahalgam terror attack.

The Congress leader took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's unscheduled visit to Pakistan in 2015.

The Prime Minister should have been present at an all-party meet in the wake of the Pahalgam attack instead of campaigning in Bihar, he said pointing fingers at Modi's sincerity towards national security.

Earlie, initiating the special discussion in the Upper House, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said India and Pakistan gained independence at the same time, but India was internationally recognised as “the Mother of Democracy” and Pakistan as “the Father of Global Terrorism”.

On the appointment of Pakistan as the Vice-Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Panel by the United Nations Security Council, Rajnath said the panel was formed after the 9/11 attacks and it was well-known that Pakistan had sheltered the mastermind of the attack. "The decision is similar to asking a cat to guard the milk."

Rajnath said he knew exactly how many aircraft were lost during Operation Sindoor, but won’t disclose the number. “If I tell, there will be clapping in the House for ten minutes. There was no loss of lives for any Indian soldiers,” he said.

“UN declared terrorists such as Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar roam around freely in Pakistan and senior officers of the Pakistan Army are seen attending the funerals of terrorists. It is a mockery of the global fight against terrorism that Pakistan is expected to lead the global community against terrorism," he said.

On comments on India reclaiming the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Rajnath said the day would not be far when the people of PoK would become a part of India again.