The highlight of Tuesday’s debate on Operation Sindoor was the speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the rebuttal by Congress’s Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi coming a close second.
In his 102-minute speech, the prime minister lauded India's military action as a Vijayotsav (victory celebration) and told the House amid cheers from the treasury benches that he was presenting the “stand of Bharat”.
”India destroyed Pakistan's military strength between May 9 and May 10. Pakistan now clearly understands that India's response will always get bigger and that India can do anything if it engages in any misadventure in future,” he said, emphasising that Operation Sindoor was continuing.
Modi said US Vice President J D Vance called him up a few times but he was busy in meetings with the armed forces brass and returned the call later.
“The Vice President told me that Pakistan is going to launch a big attack. I told him if this is Pakistan's intention, then this will cost it dearly. We will respond with a bigger attack. We will fire cannonballs against their bullets.”
”No world leader asked India to stop its military operation,” he said.
In his reply to the debate, Modi said, "Terrorist bases were destroyed in Pakistan. No one can imagine that anyone can reach there. Bahawalpur, Muridke, has also been razed to the ground. Our forces destroyed the terrorist bases.
“We have proved Pakistan's nuclear threat to be false. India has proved that nuclear blackmailing will not work anymore and neither will India bow down to this nuclear blackmailing.
“India has shown its technical capability. It has struck Pakistan precisely on the chest. Pakistan's airbases and assets have suffered heavy damage. And to date, many of their airbases are in ICU.
“This is the era of technology-based war. If we had not made the preparations that we have done in the last 10 years, then we could imagine how much loss we could have suffered in this era of technology.
“Through Operation Sindoor, for the first time, the world recognised the power of self-reliant India. Made in India drones, missiles exposed Pakistan's weapon system..."
"...Ab hamle ke baad mastermind ko neend nahi aaati, unko pata hain Bharat aayega aur maar kar jayega. This new normal has been set by India. Sindoor se leke Sindhu tak, we have taken action against Pakistan," Prime Minister Modi told the Lok Sabha. "Our operations range from Sindoor to Sindhu (Indus Waters Treaty)...”
“Pakistan knows they have to pay a huge price for any misadventure. Terror attacks were launched earlier and the masterminds of attacks knew nothing would happen, but now they know India will come for them."
India has suspended the Indus Water Treaty following the Pahalgam attack.
In his reply to the discussion on Operation Sindoor in the Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said, "Yesterday I watched Rajnath Singh's speech. He said that Operation Sindoor began at 1.05 in the morning and that it lasted 22 minutes. Then he said the most shocking thing -- at 1.35 am, we called Pakistan and told them that we have hit non-military targets and we do not want escalation...
“Maybe he does not understand what he revealed. The DGMO of India was told by the Government of India to ask for a ceasefire at 1.35 on the night of Operation Sindoor... You directly told Pakistan that you do not have the political will to fight, that you do not want to fight..."
Rahul Gandhi further said, "Captain Shiv Kumar, defence attaché Indonesia, says; I may not agree with him that India lost so many aircraft but I do agree that we did lose some aircraft. That happened only because of the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack the military establishment and their air defence.”
“You went into Pakistan, you attacked Pakistan and you told our pilots -- do not attack their air defence system..." an incredulous Rahul Gandhi said in the Lok Sabha, to cries of ‘shame, shame’ from the treasury benches.
It was brother and sister time in the Lok Sabha, with Priyanka Gandhi taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a nearly 30-minute long speech. Unlike her brother, Priyanka spoke in Hindi, her felicity with the language earning her brownie points. Part ridicule, part outrage, part emotional, and delivered without any trace of demagoguery, the speech hit its mark.
Her reading of the names of the 25 Indian victims of the Pahalgam terror attack led to a shouting match, with the treasury benches emphasising their identities as "Hindu" and the opposition MPs replying with a loud "Bharatiya".
During the debate, several leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party pointed out that the Pahalgam terror attack victims were killed in cold blood after being asked about their religious identity.
The shouting match continued with every name that Priyanka Gandhi took, which was emblematic of the charged atmosphere of the special discussion in the Lok Sabha on "India's strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam".
Priyanka Gandhi ended her speech with a loud "Jai Hind".
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had a heated exchange during the second day of discussion in Lok Sabha on Operation Sindoor and the Pahalgam terror attack on Tuesday.
Shah informed the House that three terrorists involved in the April 22 Pahalgam attack were killed in the recent Operation Mahadev in Jammu and Kashmir. He claimed the Army and CRPF had neutralised the "aaqa" (master) of terrorists.
After this the Samajwadi Party leader interjected to say "Un ke aaqa Pakistan mein hain (their masters are in Pakistan). To this the Home Minister retorted, "Kaun... aapki Pakistan se baat hoti hai kya (Who is that; do you speak with Pakistan)?"
This led to a brief uproar by Opposition MPs who rose from their seats to object to Shah's remarks.
Yadav, the Lok Sabha MP from Kannauj, spoke in the debate to launch a blistering attack on the Centre, stating that instead of the government announcing the cessation of hostilities with Pakistan, their "great friend" US President Donald Trump ended up announcing the ceasfire between the two countries.
"How did the government back down? What was the reason for which the government had to announce a ceasefire? I had a hope that the government will announce the ceasefire. But their friendship is very deep, so they told their friend (US) that you should only announce the ceasefire, we don't need it, we will accept it from you only," the Lok Sabha MP said during his address as the Parliament discussed India's strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor.
Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday accused P Chidambaram, a previous incumbent of the ministry, of giving "clean chit" to Pakistan in the Pahalgam terror attack, asserting that it amounted to questioning India's attack on terror facilities in the country.
Shah lashed out at the senior Congress leader as he informed Lok Sabha during a discussion on the terror strike and Operation Sindoor that three terrorists killed by security forces in Kashmir on Monday were behind the horrific Pahalgam incident.
He said the government had proof of the three being from Pakistan, including the voter numbers of two of them. He added that they carried chocolates made in Pakistan.
The Congress leader, a Rajya Sabha member, Shah said, raised the questions when Parliament was to begin this discussion. "Whom do you want to save? What will you gain by shielding Pakistan?"
In an interview, Chidambaram had raised questions on the claim that the terrorists behind the incident were from Pakistan.
He had said, "Have they (NIA) identified the terrorists or where they came from? For all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists. Why do you assume they came from Pakistan? There is no evidence of that."
If Chidambaram says these were not Pakistanis, then it means that the former home minister of the country is giving a clean chit to Pakistan in front of the world, Shah said.
With such a statement, the Congress leader is questioning the rationale behind the "attack on Pakistan", he added.
The whole world, Shah claimed, has accepted Pakistan's role in the attack but Chidambaram is creating doubts. "Had he asked me I would have given him proof."
Home Minister Amit Shah said the Opposition was asking the government why the attackers of Pahalgam were allowed to flee. "Well, the security forces have answered on my behalf. The Army had gunned them down," he said.
The home minister said a number of terrorists had fled the country when the Congress was in power.
"Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar fled in 1986, when the Rajiv Gandhi government was in power. Syed Salahuddin, Tiger Memon, Anis Ibrahim Kaskar fled in 1993, when the Congress government was in power. Riyaz Bhatkal fled in 2007, when the Congress government was in power. Iqbal Bhatkal fled in 2010, then it was their government," Shah said.
"Now, let Rahul Gandhi answer why these people fled the country," he said.
The home minister referred to the Batla House encounter of 2008, and recalled how Congress leader Salman Khurshid was shedding tears for the dead terrorists.
"I thought something serious had happened. He said Sonia Gandhi cried for the Batla House terrorists. If she had to cry, she should've cried for martyr Mohan Sharma instead," Shah said.
As Congress members rose in protest, Shah said he has downloaded a video of Khurshid on his mobile phone and was ready to play it in theHouse if required.
Operation Sindoor was launched in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgal terror attack, whose masterminds had so far remained elusive. And, as Parliament set out to debate Operation Sindoor, security forces in Kashmir neutralised the terrorists behind the Pahalgam attack.
Participating in the special discussion on Operation Sindoor, Shah said the terrorists were killed under Operation Mahadev on Monday. They have been identified as Suleman alias Faizal, Afghani and Jibran.
"While Suleman was an A-category commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Afghani was also an A-category Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist, Jibran too was a notorious and wanted terrorist. All these three terrorists involved in the killing of our citizens at Baisaran valley in Pahalgam have now been eliminated," he said.
To be sure about the identity of the terrorists, those detained by security forces for helping the terrorists were brought in and confirmed that the three were involved in the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Shah told the House.
"People who used to supply food, provide shelter to the terrorists were detained earlier. Once the bodies of these terrorists were brought to Srinagar, they were identified by those who were detained by our agencies," he said.
The arms -- M-9 and AK-47 rifles -- recovered from the terrorists were flown to Chandigarh on Monday night in a special flight for examination at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory.
The empty cartridges found at Pahalgam and those after test firing by the recovered guns were matched by the forensic lab, Shah said. The ballistic report is with him, he added.
"Six forensic experts have confirmed to me on a video call this morning that these are the same bullets used in the Pahalgam attack," he said.
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