Union Home Minister Amit Shah mounted a scathing attack on senior Congress leader and former Home Minister P. Chidambaram in Parliament on Tuesday, after his comments indicating the terrorists behind the April 22 Pahalgam attack were "homegrown" and his call for evidence of their Pakistani origin.
Referring to the Lok Sabha in a high-decibel debate, Shah charged Chidambaram with attempting to shield Pakistan's reputation and stated that Congress, by doubting the government account, was essentially giving Islamabad a "clean chit."
"When he says this, it implies they (Congress) are giving a clean chit to Pakistan," Shah stated, his comments evoking encouraging applause from BJP members.
Describing the success of Operation Mahadev in the recent past, Shah asserted that the three terrorists who died in Monday's coordinated operation conducted by Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Army, and CRPF were actually the perpetrators of Pahalgam massacre that left 26 civilians dead.
But yesterday, former Home Minister Chidambaramji posed the question — what is the evidence that the terrorists arrived from Pakistan?" Shah stated in a stern tone. "I would like to ask him — what does he have to gain by protecting Pakistan? Why is he attempting to protect them?
Shah continued to give particulars of the operation to support the government's assertions. "We found Pakistani chocolates and government-issued voter identification cards among the bodies of terrorists. Their guns — a single M9 rifle and two AK-47s — were forwarded for forensic analysis," he told the House.
"The rifles were sent by air to the Chandigarh Forensic Science Laboratory. Six experts confirmed through ballistic analysis that the same guns were used in the Pahalgam attack. This was confirmed to me on a video call this morning," he added, displaying the ballistic report in Parliament.
The Home Minister didn't hesitate to voice his disappointment at the Opposition's reaction to the operation. "I had thought that the Opposition would be pleased to learn that the killers of innocent civilians have been brought to justice," he said. "But it appears they are disappointed because terrorists were eliminated."
Shah charged the Congress with communalising the anti-terror struggle, saying, "The Opposition observes only the terrorists' religion. Do they tell Pakistan? Civilians were brutally murdered in front of their families by shooters who queried their religion. I vehemently denounce this barbaric act and pray for the families."
He also took this chance to direct his guns against previous Congress-rule governments for their anti-terrorism approach. "From 2005 to 2011, there were 27 terror attacks on India. What did the Congress government do? They sent dossiers to Pakistan — no consequences," he said.
Pumped by jubilant cheers from the BJP benches, Shah once again asserted that the Congress has lost the right to question the government's response to national security. "They cannot question us when they themselves have not acted. We have proven that we don't simply rant — we act."
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