Terror attacks, Parliament sessions, and one common appeal by Opposition across govts: ‘Share more'

Indian Express

02-05-2025

Opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a special session of Parliament to discuss the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 dead.
While Parliament has seen a dozen-odd special sessions, there has been none in the wake of a terror attack. However, terror incidents have been discussed in the House at length:
Bombay blasts (March 12, 1993)
Parliament was in session when a series of blasts, seen as a retaliation for the Babri Masjid demolition and the riots that followed, ripped through Mumbai (then Bombay), killing 257 people and injuring over a thousand.
In a discussion in Parliament on April 19, BJP 's Lucknow MP Atal Bihari Vajpayee said: 'The Prime Minister (P V Narasimha Rao) had assured to find out the hands and the brain behind the bomb blasts … The contradictory statements of some ministers have created great confusion. No one knows as to how this government functions. The day after the incident, Minister of Home Affairs (S B Chavan) said in the Upper House that there was an international conspiracy. But when Shri (L K) Advani pointed out that the needle of suspicion points towards the ISI… he was asked as to how he can jump to such a conclusion so early. But the same thing has now been repeated by the Maharashtra Chief Minister (Sharad Pawar).'
Balia MP and former PM Chandra Shekhar also questioned the government's response, saying while 'one minister makes a statement that Pakistan is behind these blasts, while the other says nothing concrete can be said'.
On May 14, 1993, S B Chavan told the House: 'While investigations are continuing, the results of the inquiries so far clearly indicate Pakistan's organised support and involvement in the planning and execution of (the attack).'
IC-814 hijack (December 24, 1999)
A group of terrorists of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen hijacked a Kathmandu to Delhi Indian Airlines flight and took it to Taliban-controlled Kandahar in Afghanistan, demanding the release of terrorists, including Maulana Masood Azhar, from Indian jails.
Terming the hijack as an 'act of desperate men who have no respect for human lives', then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee said the government's first concern was the safety of the passengers and crew.
While calling for unity in the face of the crisis, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh questioned the government's move to negotiate with the terrorists, expressing concerns that it would embolden terrorist organisations.
The negotiations culminated on December 30, and the terrorists whom the hijackers wanted released were accompanied by the then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to Kandahar in Afghanistan. The hostages were subsequently released and landed in Delhi on December 31, 1999.
In a suo motu statement in Parliament on March 1, 2000, Jaswant Singh defended his decision to accompany the terrorists to Kandahar. 'The hijacking incident has once again highlighted the complicity of Pakistan and of organisations patronised and supported by it in terrorist acts against India,' he added.
In a discussion on the matter in the Lok Sabha on May 10, 2000, Congress's Nagpur MP Vilas Muttemwar said the fact that the government had to 'bow to the demand of the terrorists' gave the impression that it was 'weak'. 'One question that comes before all of us is how the government which cannot face terrorists defend the country?' he asked.
Congress's Raiganj MP Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi asked whether the government had done enough to beef up intelligence after the Kargil War. Dasmunsi also questioned why the PM had met the Opposition parties only on December 27, and not earlier.
Parliament attack (December 13, 2001)
A day after terrorists attacked Parliament, the Lok Sabha adopted a resolution condemning the attack and paid homage to those who lost their lives.
Addressing the Lok Sabha, then Union Home Minister L K Advani said, 'This very edifice which is the sanctuary of democracy was the target of a mindless act of terrorism, perpetrated with the intention of wiping out our entire national leadership.'
Advani apprised the House that the investigation had indicated that five Pakistani terrorists were involved.
Calling for a 'thorough and transparent' investigation into the incident, Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Mulayam Singh Yadav called for unity among political parties and said, 'Such an act could not have been carried out without external support and internal facilitation… It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that such lapses do not recur.'
During the discussion in the Rajya Sabha, Congress MP Hansraj Bhardwaj wished the government had consulted the Opposition more on issues such as ordinances to handle terror. 'Let this government resolve — we are all with you — that we will not henceforth be treated as a soft State … make your preparation … You are not doing that. You are attacking us.'
Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj said while the Opposition was pointing out lapses, it had to keep in mind the nature of the attack and the difficulty of preventing suicide missions.
Kaluchak massacre (May 14, 2002)
Three terrorists who had allegedly crossed over into India from the Line of Control (LoC) attacked a Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation bus on its way to Jammu, killing seven people. The terrorists then stormed a nearby Army camp, killing 23 more people, including 18 civilians.
Parliament was in session at the time. In the House, L K Advani referred to the global resolve against terrorism in the wake of 9/11 and said: 'It is not a coincidence that the incident has occurred at a time when a senior US State Department official is visiting our country.'
PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee termed the act 'most inhuman and a brutal carnage' while Jaswant Singh, later in his book 'A Call To Honour – In Service of Emergent India', said the incident almost led to a war with Pakistan.
At a discussion in Parliament on May 17, Sonia Gandhi said: '(The attack) was not unprecedented as such incidents have somehow coincided with the visit of foreign dignitaries… The steps taken so far by the Government have not proved to be effective. This, despite our continuous and unprecedented support.'
National Conference MP and then MoS External Affairs Omar Abdullah denounced Pakistan for its role in terrorism and said his party's full support was behind the government.
That day, in the Rajya Sabha, Congress MP Pranab Mukherjee asked if the government had come 'to a definitive conclusion as to what type of action it is going to take', but advised calm.
'This (response to the attack) is for you to decide, but it must not be an instant knee-jerk reaction… whatever be the provocation, we should not lose our cool. We should take such action which we can follow up on… Let us not resort to high-sounding rhetoric.'
Nilotpal Basu of the CPI (M) called for national unity but added it was a fact that 'certain weaknesses have remained'.
The Upper House then adopted a unanimous resolution condemning the attack. The following day, on May 18, India expelled then Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi.
Mumbai 26/11 attack (November 26, 2008)
During a discussion in Parliament days after Mumbai came under attack, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh admitted to a spurt in terrorist attacks and apologised to people on his government's behalf. Then Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, and state Home Minister R R Patil resigned in the wake of the incident that left over 166 people dead.
'The scourge of terrorism has to be ended, and all means needed to do so will be utilised,' Singh said, hoping that the United Nations would sanction the four Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba handlers involved in the attack.
During a debate on December 11, Advani told the Lok Sabha: 'What we see in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and previously in other places is an attack on our tradition of tolerance and peaceful co-existence amongst various faiths … This, however, does not mean that India's response to the threat of terrorism inspired by religious extremism is targeted against any particular religion or community. I would like to reiterate that terrorism has no religion and also that no faith or community should be stigmatised for the criminal acts of a few individuals or groups … As a matter of fact, the expression of Indian Muslims' anger over the terrorist attacks in Mumbai is a highly significant development.'
The BJP leader said people had been demanding answers from the Congress-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra and that they could neither 'shirk accountability' nor could they pretend they had done 'all that is necessary by way of accountability' by getting Shivraj Patil, Deshmukh, and R R Patil to resign.
Pathankot airbase attack (January 2, 2016)
In what was one of the first major terror attacks under the Modi government, five terrorists dressed in Army fatigues attacked the Indian Air Force base in Punjab's Pathankot in the early hours of January 2. Six security personnel were killed in the attack, with the operation to kill the attackers lasting three days.
The Lok Sabha discussed the attack on March 16, with BJD's Bolangir MP Kalikesh N Singh Deo raising the issue of the Punjab Police 'not being able to communicate' with the Union Home Ministry. 'In a country like ours, don't we have a system where we can actually communicate with the security forces and intelligence agencies, or do we have to wait for 9.30 a.m. or 10 a.m. for officers to come before we communicate with them?' he asked.
Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and then BRS MP from Nizamabad K Kavitha questioned the government's move to allow Pakistani investigators into the airbase.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey countered this, calling the PM's decision 'mature', and raised doubts about the 'preparedness at the state level'. At the time, the Congress was in power in Punjab.
Then Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia questioned the NDA government's Pakistan policy, which he said was showing no results. '… we should rethink our engagement strategy with Pakistan. Is Pakistan serious about peace, or is it playing a double game?' Scindia asked.
In response, then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said, 'Pathankot has to be taken as a part of asymmetric war. We should realise that this is an attempt wherein the opposition forces never expect to win but want to create a sort of discord amongst our political leadership and amongst other leadership, including the military leadership so that the moral strength of the military leadership gets weakened.'
Uri attack (September 18, 2016)
The attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri by four terrorists left 18 Indian soldiers dead and around 30 injured.
While there was no discussion or debate in Parliament over the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Pakistan for its role in the attack while addressing a public meeting in Kerala days after the incident. 'India will make all-out efforts to isolate Pakistan diplomatically to expose its activities of exporting terror,' he said.
Three days after the attack, then Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit was summoned and issued a demarche and a verbal warning. A day later, India also raised the matter in the United Nations.
On September 28-29, India carried out surgical strikes just across the LoC and destroyed terrorist launch pads.
Pulwama attack (February 14, 2019)
Two days after the attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Kashmir left 40 personnel dead, a meeting of the floor leaders of various political parties in Parliament, chaired by then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, condemned the attack. Then Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said after the meeting that the government had given a free hand to the security forces to deal with the terrorists.
In the immediate aftermath, India revoked Pakistan's Most Favoured Nation status, hiked Customs duty by 200%, and withdrew the security granted to separatist leaders in Kashmir.
'They (terrorists) have made a big mistake and India does not forget. They will have to pay a very heavy price… This is the time for mourning and to show restraint and sensitivity. I want to assure each family who lost their loved one that their tears will be avenged (aansu ka pura pura jawab liya jayega),' Modi said at a public meeting in Maharashtra, two days after the attack.
On February 26, India launched surgical strikes across the LoC and destroyed terrorist camps in Balakot. A day later, during a mission to intercept potential airstrikes by the Pakistani Air Force, Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman's MiG-21 was downed, leading to his capture by Pakistani forces.
On February 29, then Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced Varthaman's release as a 'gesture of peace' and the IAF pilot crossed over to India through the Wagah-Attari border on March 1.