Chandigarh, May 25 (PTI) Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Sunday said the opposition has been demanding that the government convene a special session of Parliament and added this would send a message of unity to entire world in India’s fight against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
The support that the government has got from the country and the opposition on what should be the response post the Pahalgam terror attack is unprecedented and unconditional, Pilot said.
The Congress leader said that a unified voice would be raised against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism if a special session of Parliament is convened which will send a message of India’s unity against terrorism to the world.
“We had demanded a special session of Parliament so that one voice goes out in entire world that entire India is united for country’s sovereignty and integrity… and in this fight to weed out Pakistan-sponsored terror,” he told a news conference here along with Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda and other Congress leaders from Haryana.
Pilot said the multi-party delegation, currently visiting different nations as part of the Centre’s global diplomatic outreach to draw attention to India’s fight against cross-border terrorism, especially in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, would have got even more weight to keep their views had the Parliament session been convened before they were sent.
Pilot, a former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, was addressing the media here on the sidelines of ‘Jai Hind Sabha’, which the Congress is organizing across India to salute the supreme valour and success of the armed forces.
These meetings will see the involvement of army veterans, party leaders and the general public, Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal had recently said in a post on X.
Referring to the Operation Sindoor, Pilot said the Congress extended full support to the government after the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed to give a befitting response to the perpetrators of the cowardly incident.
“While we are all proud of our armed forces, it saddens me when some senior BJP leaders in responsible positions like Madhya Pradesh Minister Vijay Shah and Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana Ram Chander Jangra are using indecent language with regard to our brave army officers and people killed in Pahalgam attack and their families,” he added.
Pilot asked whether the BJP will take any action against such leaders and remove them from their posts.
Jangra on Saturday stoked a row by saying that the tourists who came under terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam should have put up a fight and the women, who lost their husbands, should have acted like ‘veerangna’ (warrior women).
He claimed that the number of casualties would have been low had the tourists undergone Agniveer training and the ladies “lacked” the spirit of warrior women.
Shah came under fire after a video, which was distributed widely, showed him allegedly making objectionable remarks against Col Sofiya Qureshi, who gained nationwide prominence along with another woman officer, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, during media briefings on Operation Sindoor.
The Congress leader further said the government has not “rejected” US President Donald Trump’s claim that he settled the recent conflict between India and Pakistan through trade and added that this should come “from the highest level in the Indian government”.
Pilot said this is the eighth time that President Trump has claimed that he played a role in helping India and Pakistan stop hostilities.
He also demanded the government’s “clarification” on the “ceasefire” announcement.
The Congress leader also said that though a “ceasefire” has been announced, the government should clarify whether it was assured that Pakistan will not carry out any misadventure in future.
Pilot said Pakistan’s role in sending infiltrators and funding terrorism is well-known in the past.
“So, have any such assurances been received (from Pakistan) that such acts will not be repeated in future? The government should clarify,” he said.
Referring to the ceasefire announcement, Pilot said that neither the US president, vice president or the US government used the word terrorism even once in the entire matter.
He said Pakistan-sponsored terrorism is no longer being discussed even though the world is aware of it.
The US is trying to claim credit for brokering the ceasefire, but did it assure India? These are critical questions that must be answered, he said.
When asked what more India needs to do to expose Pakistan at the global level as state-sponsor of terrorism, the Congress leader stressed the need to effectively counter the misinformation and false propaganda being peddled by Islamabad.
“I think there is enough empirical evidence to prove that Pakistan for long has been a state-sponsor of terrorism. And real key of government of Pakistan lies with the Pakistan Army and ISI. They have realised that conventionally they are no match to India, but they want to damage India with the help of China. First they sponsored terrorism in Punjab for a long time and now in Kashmir,” Pilot said.
“I think we have to do a lot more because the kind of condemnation (referring to the global stage) that should have been attracted towards Pakistan has not happened. I also feel that the support we would have got — for example we did not have outright support of Russia. Like China supported Pakistan openly. But some of our old friends and allies were not so forthcoming, that is something we have to work on diplomatically and also on backdoor channels,” he added.
The Congress leader said that “we have to be far more forceful in ensuring the global community at large acknowledges that Pakistan has adopted a state policy of encouraging terrorism in Kashmir”. PTI SUN AS AS
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