‘Why not kill them yesterday?’ Amit Shah hits out at Congress in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday declared in the Rajya Sabha that Jammu and Kashmir will be rid of terrorism and strongly criticised the Congress party, accusing it of prioritising "vote bank and appeasement politics" over national security.

Replying to the debate on Operation Sindoor in the Upper House, Shah informed members that the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack were located and neutralised nearly 100 days after the incident.

‘J&K will be free from terrorism’

“Today, standing in this House, I promise that Jammu and Kashmir will be free from terrorism. This is the resolve of the Narendra Modi government,” Shah said during his address.

He noted that following a security review meeting held after the Pahalgam attack, the government took prompt measures to ensure the perpetrators could not flee the country. “More critically, measures were taken to ensure they could not flee the country. As a result, 100 days after the attack, the perpetrators were located and neutralised,” he added.

Details of Operation Mahadev

Providing details of the operation, Shah said, “Under Operation Mahadev, our armed forces successfully killed three terrorists. Among them, Suleiman, a commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was identified as the individual who had opened fire during the Pahalgam attack. Hamza Afghani, also a commander of LeT, was another high-ranking operative eliminated during the operation. Additionally, Zibran, a terrorist associated with LeT, was among those killed.”

He stated that evidence “unequivocally points to Lashkar-e-Taiba’s involvement in orchestrating the Pahalgam attack.”

Criticism of the opposition

Shah criticised the Opposition, particularly the Congress party, for staging a walkout and questioning the timing of the operation. “Yesterday, you (Congress) were asking why they (Pahalgam terrorists) were killed on this day? Why should they not have been killed yesterday? Because Rahul Gandhi was supposed to deliver his speech? It doesn’t work like this,” he said.

He added, “The entire country is seeing that Congress’ priority is not national security and ending terrorism but it is politics, their vote bank and appeasement politics.”

Walkout over PM’s silence

The Opposition had demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi reply to the debate in the House, and walked out when this did not happen. The debate began on Tuesday.

India’s response through Operation Sindoor

In retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack, India launched Operation Sindoor, striking terrorist infrastructure across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). Indian forces also repelled further Pakistani aggression and targeted multiple airbases in response.

(ANI inputs)