Follow TNM’s WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the three men killed by the security forces during Operation Mahadev on July 28 were all terrorists involved in the Pahalgam terror attack. Speaking during a special discussion on Operation Sindhoor at the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, July 29, the Home Minister said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted a 3,000-hour-long interrogation of over 1,000 people to bring the Pahalgam attack terrorists to justice.
“Forces ne thok diya,” (The forces attacked them) Shah told the House, lauding Operation Mahadev. "Yesterday, the Indian Army, CRPF, and J&K Police neutralised three terrorists—Suleiman, Afghan, and Jibran. Suleiman was the top commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, who was involved in the Pahalgam and Gagangir terror attacks. Several pieces of evidence are there to support this," he said. Afghan and Jibran were also top commanders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Home Minister informed the House.
He said the bullets retrieved from the terrorists killed during Operation Mahadev were a 100% match with the bullets used in the Pahalgam attack.
Ceasefire requested by Pakistan
The Home Minister added that the ceasefire between India and Pakistan happened on the request made by Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations to his Indian counterpart on May 10. Shah said that the country was able to attack air bases and ruin the attacking capabilities, leaving no other option for Pakistan, but to surrender.
"Six of Pakistan's radar systems were destroyed. They attacked our residential areas, but we did not do the same. We only attacked their air bases and ruined their attacking capabilities. Our armed forces were intact but their attacking capacities were destroyed. Pakistan had no option but to surrender. On May 10, the Pakistani DGMO called our DGMO, and we paused the conflict at 5 pm," he told the Parliament.
Shah against Congress, Chidambaram
Amit Shah lashed out at the Congress as well as party veteran P Chidambaram over the latter’s remarks that the Pahalgam attackers could have been “homegrown terrorists” and not from across the border. He said there was ample proof of their country of origin as the voter IDs of the Pahalgam terrorists were Pakistani. “They were Pakistanis. Their voter ID number is available; the rifles they used are also with us. Pakistan-made chocolates that the terrorists carried have also been recovered," Amit Shah said.
Shah expressed surprise over how Chidambaram, a former Home Minister, raised questions over the origin and nationality of terrorists. “Whom do you want to save? What will you gain by shielding Pakistan?,” he asked, alleging, “Former Home Minister is giving clean chit to Pakistanis.”
Chidambaram, in a recent interview with a news publication, had alleged that the government was unwilling to disclose the work the NIA has done in the aftermath of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
Shah alleged that Congress-led governments were soft on separatists, extremists, and terror sympathisers. He said that the Pahalgam attackers have been punished, but Congress must answer for its “misdeeds” and politically-driven approach in bringing terror elements to book.
Opposition MPs speak
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP M Kanimozhi Karunanidhi asked the ruling front to “learn some humility” and apologise to the families of victims of the Pahalgam attack. "Have you reached out to the victims? What compensation has the Union government given them? All the responsibilities were shifted to the state government," she said.
Quoting the wife of Pahalgam victim Shubham Dwivedi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi said that there was not a single security personnel at Baisaran valley at the time of attack. She also alleged that the government has no sense of accountability to the citizens.