Criticising the government over its handling of Operation Sindoor, India’s military response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused it of lacking the political will to take on Pakistan. He also mentioned Pakistani general Asim Munir, calling him ‘the mastermind’ behind the Pahalgam attack
Beginning his speech during the debate on Operation Sindoor in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi extended his condolences to those who were killed in the Pahalgam attack and said the opposition as one unit backed the forces and the government.
Here are the 10 big points from his speech:
“Rajnath Singh said Operation Sindoor began at 1:05 AM and that by 1:35 AM, India had already called Pakistan to inform them that we had hit non-military targets and that we did not want escalation. These are not my words. These are the words of India’s defence minister,”
“You went to Pakistan, you send our pilots there and told them not to attack their defence system, meaning you told our pilots to face their air defence system…meaning you tied their hands behind their backs, ”
“New normal is that the chief architect of Pahalgam attack had lunch with US President Donald Trump.”
“You have destroyed the most important aspect of Indian diplomacy. China and Pakistan are fused. The Government of India thought they were fighting Pakistan and when they arrived they realised they were fighting Pakistan and China.”
“You attacked Pakistan and simultaneously told them we are not going to hit your army or air defence systems. That is not freedom of manoeuvre; that is surrender.”
“The aircrafts were lost because the political leadership had tied the hands of the armed forces by deciding not to attack military and air defence infrastructure in Pakistan.”
“If you would have listened to what I had stated about China and Pak in Lok Sabha, you would not have lost those five planes.”
“US President Donald Trump said 29 times he brought about India-Pak ceasefire; if he is lying, PM must say so in Lok Sabha, If PM Modi has courage of an Indira Gandhi, he must deny in Lok Sabha that Trump is a ‘liar’ and we did not lose any planes.”
“Jaishankar didn’t tell us that not one country condemned Pakistan post-Pahalgam, it means world is equating us with Pakistan. When UPA govt was there, it was very clear that Pakistan is promoting terrorism; countries used to condemn Pakistan for it.”
“We cannot afford a PM who doesn’t have courage to use army the way it has to be used,” Gandhi said, adding, “PM using armed forces to protect his image dangerous for country, forces should be used in national interest.”