Parliament Set For Crucial Debate On Pahalgam Terror Attack And Military Response
The government's response will be articulated by key cabinet members including Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Unofficial sources suggest Prime Minister Narendra Modi might also participate in the proceedings, though no formal confirmation has been issued.
Parliamentary leadership has arranged for a 16-hour debate format spanning both houses, focusing specifically on the April 22 attack that resulted in 26 civilian casualties and the subsequent military operation. The discussion framework was mutually agreed upon by government and opposition representatives on July 25.
The Congress party has designated Gaurav Gogoi to initiate the opposition's arguments, with subsequent contributions planned from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Deependra Hooda, Praneeti Shinde, Saptagiri Ulaka, and Bijendra Ola. Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to deliver his remarks during Tuesday's session.
Notable among the confirmed speakers are representatives from various political parties including Rajnath Singh, Bajyant Panda, Tejaswi Surya, Sanjay Jaiswal, Anurag Thakur, and members from TDP, SP, AITC, DMK, and NCP factions.
A significant development concerns Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's participation status. Internal party sources indicate Tharoor will likely abstain from the debate, having failed to submit the required speaking request to the Congress Parliamentary Party office. This absence could generate controversy given Tharoor's recent leadership of an international delegation addressing the India-Pakistan situation, which reportedly conflicted with his party's official position.
Tharoor's public endorsement of government policies and the temporary cessation of hostilities has created friction within Congress ranks, particularly among members who maintain critical stances toward the administration's approach.
Opposition leadership, spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi, has consistently challenged the government over alleged intelligence shortcomings and questioned India's international diplomatic support. These criticisms have intensified following claims by US President Donald Trump regarding American mediation efforts between India and Pakistan, assertions that the Indian government has categorically refuted.
The parliamentary debate represents a crucial moment for both government accountability and opposition scrutiny regarding national security responses and diplomatic strategies in the region.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
12 minutes ago
- Hans India
UP CM Adityanath, BSP chief Mayawati express grief over Satyapal Malik's death
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday expressed grief over the death of Satyapal Malik, the former governor of Jammu and Kashmir. In a post on X in Hindi, CM Adityanath said, "The demise of former governor Satyapal Malik ji is extremely sad. Humble tribute! My condolences are with the bereaved family. I pray to God to grant salvation to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family to bear this sorrow. Om Shanti!" Condoling the death of Malik, BSP chief Mayawati in a post on X in Hindi said, "The news of the death of Shri Satyapal Malik, who was the governor of many states, including Jammu and Kashmir, today is very sad. My deepest condolences to his bereaved family and all his supporters. May nature give them the strength to bear this sorrow." Malik (79) died on Tuesday at a hospital in New Delhi after a prolonged illness, his personal staff said. He was 79. Malik, who had also held the positions of governor of Goa, Bihar, Meghalaya, and Odisha, besides being a member of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in his long political career, died at 1.12 pm at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in New Delhi. He was in the ICU of the hospital for a long time, getting treatment for various ailments, the staff said. In his gubernatorial role in Jammu and Kashmir, Malik oversaw the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019. Coincidentally, he took his last breath on the sixth anniversary of the Centre's move. Malik attracted a lot of controversy after alleging that he was offered a bribe to clear files of two major projects in Jammu and Kashmir and questioned the BJP-led central government over issues related to farmers and the Pulwama terror attack, among others.
The Hindu
12 minutes ago
- The Hindu
SIR in Bihar an 'invasive reconstruction of electoral roll:' Dipankar Bhattacharya
Describing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive under way in Bihar as 'an invasive reconstruction of the electoral roll,' Dipankar Bhattacharya, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, said States including Kerala should be on guard as it could be applied in other parts of the country as well. 'If they get away with it in Bihar, they will apply it everywhere,' he said, delivering the 24th memorial lecture in memory of the journalist N. Narendran on the topic 'Bihar: Trial run for Mass Disenfranchisement.' 'In fact, some people in Kerala and Tamil Nadu may still be believing that, well, this is something only happening in north India. If it is happening in north India, it is only a matter of time it happens here. No part of India is secure. Every State, every community, every political geography, every social equation, is vulnerable,' he said. The concept of citizenship as Indians have known it no longer remains valid as people will now be forced to prove their citizenship. The migrant workers of Bihar have emerged as one of the most vulnerable sections of electors in the SIR in Bihar, given the Election Commission of India's definition of 'ordinary resident.' This could have implications for Kerala as well, which has a large migrant population, he said. The SIR in Bihar, he said, was not just about rewriting the electoral roll, but it was about rewriting the electoral rules, he said. 'By rewriting the electoral rules, you are rewriting the entire grammar of elections in India,' he said. Mr. Dipankar Bhattacharya said that the INDIA Bloc was the need of the hour, observing that the BJP has grown at the expense of all other parties. 'If we cannot identify who the common enemy is, we will be doing so at our own peril,' he said. He underscored the need for a broad-based, sustained and multi-pronged resistance against what he described as the 'fascist offensive' of the BJP-RSS in the country. On the BJP's 'One Nation, One Election' proposal, Mr. Bhattacharya said it holds grave implications for the concepts of democracy and federalism. 'Every election has its own context. A Lok Sabha election has its own context, an Assembly election has its own context, a panchayat election will have its own context. If you bulldoze, flatten everything into one single narrative, and one single context for the whole elections, there will be nothing left of India's federalism and democracy as we have known it all these years,' he said, adding that the current challenges facing the Indian people is unlike any other in the post-Independence era.
NDTV
12 minutes ago
- NDTV
Supreme Court Upholds Environment Ministry Notification, Junks Exemption Clause For Big Projects
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the January 29 notification of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, but struck down the contentious clause exempting certain large building and construction projects from prior environmental clearance. A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran held projects with a built-up area above 20,000 square meter, whether industrial, educational, or otherwise, cannot be exempted from the environment impact assessment (EIA) 2006 regime. The court clarified that the notification would also apply to Kerala. Dictating the order, the CJI said, "It has been consistently held that natural resources are to be held in trust for the next generation. At the same time, courts have always taken note of development activities and the country cannot progress without it." Observing the supreme court had always focused on sustainable development, the CJI said, "The court while ensuring that development is permitted has also required precaution to be taken so that least damage is caused to the environment and has even ordered costs to be paid for such development activities." The order said it would not be possible for the union ministry to consider projects across the country and therefore the issue could be considered on a state-to-state basis. "If any construction activity in any area more than 20,000 sq km is carried out it will have environmental impact even if it's for industrial or educational purposes and discrimination cannot be made with similar such institutes," it said. It also said that no exemption can be granted to the education sector in this regard. "Nowadays education has also become a flourishing industry and thus no reason to exempt such projects from the 2006 notification," the CJI said. The bench upheld the notification except clause 8 of the January 29 notification which grants exemptions to industrial sheds, schools, colleges, and hostels with built-up areas up to 150,000 square meter. The bench said it was impractical for the MoEFCC to appraise every project nationwide, noting the Central Expert Appraisal Committee (CEA) could handle state-wise evaluations. On February 25, the top court stayed the notification on a PIL filed by Mumbai-based NGO Vanashakti, which argued that the exemption diluted the EIA's safeguards and threatened eco-sensitive zones. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the NGO, said similar attempts in 2014, 2016, and 2018 had been struck down or stayed by courts, including the Kerala High Court, the National Green Tribunal, and the Delhi High Court. The petition claimed that bypassing EC for projects of such magnitude, exceeding 1.6 million square feet, would cause irreversible damage to land, water, and air quality, violating the precautionary principle entrenched in Indian environmental law. Before the January 29 amendment, EIA 2006 required EC for all construction projects above 20,000 sq m The impugned notification raised the threshold to 150,000 sq m for certain categories and also removed "general conditions" applicable in eco-sensitive and polluted areas. A follow-up office memorandum on January 30 expanded the scope of exemptions to include private universities, warehouses, and industrial sheds housing machinery or raw material.
