logo
Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel seeks answers from govt on Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor 'ceasefire'

Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel seeks answers from govt on Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor 'ceasefire'

JABALPUR: Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should explain why there was no security for tourists in Pahalgam, where terrorists attacked them on April 22, and did the government agree to a "ceasefire" with Pakistan under pressure from the United States.
Following the horrific Pahalgam attack which claimed 26 lives, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, striking at terror infrastructure in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan.
The neighbouring country retaliated with drones and missiles but failed to cause harm. The two nations announced cessation of hostilities on May 10.
Speaking at the opposition Congress' 'Jai Hind' rally here on Saturday, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Baghel accused the BJP of politicising Operation Sindoor and asserted the country's armed forces do not belong to any party.
The Congress' event coincided with the PM's mega women empowerment event in Bhopal, 300 km from here.
"Tell people why there was no security arrangement in Pahalgam. Where are those four terrorists?
Was the ceasefire done under pressure from the US and who took the decision on the ceasefire, officers or the government?" Baghel said addressing the gathering.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

PM to meet delegations after world tour next week
PM to meet delegations after world tour next week

Hindustan Times

time21 minutes ago

  • Hindustan Times

PM to meet delegations after world tour next week

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet the seven multi-party delegations, which are currently touring key international capitals to underscore India's zero-tolerance for terrorism and New Delhi's 'new normal' against the menace, sometime next week, people aware of developments said on Monday. According to the people cited above, the date for Modi's meeting is yet to be finalised but it might happen on June 9 or 10. Before the PM meets all seven delegations, they will debrief external affairs minister S Jaishankar in a process starting from Tuesday with the team led by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Baijayant 'Jay' Panda, the people added. Panda's delegation, which left Delhi on May 24, is set to be the first to return home after visiting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Algeria. The meeting with Jaishankar is scheduled at 2.30pm on Tuesday. The delegation comprises BJP leaders Nishikant Dubey, Phangnon Konyak, Rekha Sharma, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi, nominated Rajya Sabha member Satnam Singh Sandhu, former minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, and former foreign secretary Harsh Shringla. The PM's decision to meet all the delegations is a significant step as top-ranking functionaries suggested that the main idea to send the teams across the globe after Operation Sindoor came from the PM. It will be the first interaction between the PM and the delegations, which began leaving Delhi on May 21. The multi-party delegations—comprising 59 lawmakers, in addition to former diplomats — have already covered a bulk of their itinerary of 33 countries, including the European Union. The leaders, briefed by foreign secretary Vikram Misri before leaving Delhi, have focused on exposing Pakistan's duplicity on combating terror by showing pictures of the country's army general attending funeral of terrorists killed during Operation Sindoor and the discovery of 9/11 accused Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, and underlined how repeated peace initiatives by New Delhi met with disappointment and more attacks, people familiar with the matter said. All seven delegations – headed by senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor; Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Panda; Janata Dal (United) leader Sanjay Jha, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule, and Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde – have met parliamentarians, ministers, government officials and policy makers to exchange views on furthering cooperation on counterterrorism and combating radicalism, especially after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 civilians dead. The Indian delegations spoke about major terror attacks sponsored by Pakistan, how Islamabad refused to act even after New Delhi provided clinching evidence of photos, DNA samples and call records in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and pointed out that all major international terror attacks including the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks and the 2005 London bombing had direct or indirect links to Pakistan, said the people cited above. Two of the delegations – one to Russia and another to Japan – concluded their visits on Saturday with 'constructive meetings', said the people cited above. Operation Sindoor was India's direct military response to the April 22 terror strike at Pahalgam in Kashmir that killed 26 civilians in what was the worst attack on civilians since the 26/11 Mumbai strikes. India launched the operation in the early hours of May 7, bombing nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The pre-dawn strikes --- which killed at least 100 terrorists --- sparked a series of attacks and counter attacks across the western border, involving fighter jets, missiles, armed drones, and fierce artillery and rocket duels. In one such counterattack on the night of May 9-10, the air force struck targets at 13 Pakistani air bases and military installations. After four days of fighting, military hostilities were stopped on May 10 as the two nations reached an understanding. The move to send political delegations abroad started on May 17, roughly a week after India and Pakistan agreed to an understanding to cease hostilities. In Algiers, Panda said that India's appeal to place Pakistan back on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list was gaining significant resonance globally, emphasising the role of illicit financing in fuelling terrorism. 'Pakistan is not interested in improving itself or helping its people... They have diverted the money for terrorism and its army and looted it... Terrorism is fuelled by two things. One is ideology and the other is illicit finance... Ideology-wise, these Islamic countries have taken a strong stand... They do not permit any kind of fundamentalism from their soil... Financing part is the other aspect,' Panda said. In Paris, former Union minister M J Akbar asserted India's clear and thought-through 'no first use' doctrine on nuclear weapons and said, 'Pakistan is a military state, it is no longer a civilian state. And a military state has a vested interest in conflict because conflict justifies its presence… Now, it sometimes thinks it can provide a nuclear shelter to terrorists. The Prime Minister (Modi) has made it very clear that there can be no nuclear blackmail.' In Tokyo, Trinamool Congress lawmaker Abhishek Banerjee said, 'If terrorism is a rabid dog, Pakistan is a vile handler…We are here to share the message and the truth that India refuses to bow down. We will not kneel to fear. I belong to a political party that is in the Opposition. It is in the public domain that I have said that Pakistan needs to be taught a lesson in the language they understand,' he said.

Once in power, will set up judicial commission to probe false cases, police misuse: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring
Once in power, will set up judicial commission to probe false cases, police misuse: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring

Time of India

timean hour ago

  • Time of India

Once in power, will set up judicial commission to probe false cases, police misuse: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring

Ludhiana: Taking a stringent stand against the misuse of the police and their "willingness to oblige their political bosses and victimise innocent people by registering false cases, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday said once the Congress forms the govt in the state, it would set up a judicial commission to probe such cases. Addressing the 'Save Constitution' meeting in the Dakha assembly segment, on the city outskirts, Warring alleged that there was complete abuse of the Constitution in Punjab, with a section of police betraying their uniform. The meet was organised by Congress leader Capt Sandeep Singh Sandhu. Calling for tough and stringent measures to fix responsibility for false cases, Warring suggested that any official who was found to have registered a false case should not only be dismissed from the service but should also be made to spend the same period of time in jail as the innocent victim of the false FIR. Alleging that Punjab had turned into a police state, he referred to the killing of one person in police custody recently. He said there was no accountability and called for this practice to stop. The Ludhiana MP said Punjab needed serious police reforms to prevent the misuse of power. The Congress leader also took a dig at the Punjab govt's campaign against drugs – Yudh Nashya Virudh. Referring to the claims by the AAP govt that it registered 8,500 cases, he asked: "Do drugs finish with mere registration of FIRs or demolishing houses of people?" "Drugs are still being frequently peddled and people are still dying from drug overdose," he said, while referring to the complete failure of the govt in curbing drugs in the state. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Warring also re-inducted the suspended Phillaur Congress MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhry into the party. The PPCC chief said Chaudhry was "dyed in wool third generation Congressman". He said the party would be strengthened with his return. Former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and former MLAs Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Lakhwinder Lakha, Kudleep Singh Vaid, and Sukhpal Bhullar were also present.

Pakistan's Punjab speaker backs Pahalgam attacker at rally
Pakistan's Punjab speaker backs Pahalgam attacker at rally

Time of India

time2 hours ago

  • Time of India

Pakistan's Punjab speaker backs Pahalgam attacker at rally

NEW DELHI: The line, ever so thin, between the Pakistani state and terrorists, is fast disappearing post-Operation Sindoor. Speaker of Pakistan's Punjab assembly, Malik Ahmed Khan, has now come out in defence of Lashkar-e-Taiba deputy chief Saifullah Kasuri, by attending a rally alongside the US-designated terrorist, and Talha Saeed, son of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed . Asked by reporters, the speaker of the assembly of Pakistan's biggest province brazened it out by saying Kasuri, one of the masterminds of the Pahalgam terror attack , should not be seen as an accused without an investigation. He also cited a personal connection to Kasur, the town where the May 28 rally was organised. The presence of Talha alongside Kasuri came to light when foreign policy circles were already discussing Kasuri and his jihadi comrades gloating over what they called their success in avenging the partition of Pakistan after its loss to India in the 1971 war. LeT ultras boast about revenge for 1971, mock 'Modi's missiles & bullets' Video footage from the rally showed Lashkar-e-Taiba deputy chief Saifullah Kasuri arriving with a posse of guards carrying American M4 carbines and being serenaded as the "conqueror" of India. Flower petals were showered on him. While addressing the gathering, the Lashkar terrorists boasted about their involvement in protests against former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, which forced her to flee and take shelter in India. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Own A Barrel of Whisky With Average Annual Returns of 10.15%* Whisky Investors Download Undo Kasuri and Muzammil Hashmi, both designated as terrorists by the US, claimed credit for their role in the coup during rallies organised last week. "We emerged victorious against you in Bangladesh last year," they said. Expectedly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been the target of hateful vitriol that marks proceedings of jihadi congregations. "Tum hamein apni goli se darate ho, Modi hum tujhe paigham dete hain, humare bachche teri missailon se nahi dare, hum teri goli se kya darenge (Modi, you scare us with your bullets, our children were not scared of your missiles, you think we are worried about your bullets)," Hashmi said during a rally by Pakistan Markazi Muslim League, the political front of Lashkar-e-Taiba, in Gujranwala on May 28. At another rally the same week, Kasuri drew parallels between the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war and recent events, stating that his group had avenged the past defeat. "I was four years old when Pakistan was dismembered in 1971. The then Indian PM Indira Gandhi had declared that she had drowned the two-nation theory in the khaleej (Bay of Bengal). On May 10, we took the revenge of 1971," Kasuri said while addressing his supporters in Rahim Yar Khan. He also referenced the brutal Indian air strikes on Muridke, which resulted in the death of fellow terrorist Mudassar, and expressed anguish over being barred from attending the funeral. "I was not allowed to attend his funeral. On the day of his funeral, I cried a lot," Kasuri said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store