PM should have disclosed how ceasefire was reached: Congress
Ashok Gehlot said that the PM or the government should publicly clarify Donald Trump’s claims that his team worked overnight for the ceasefire.
The Congress said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “disappointed” the people of India as he failed to clarify under what circumstances India agreed on a ceasefire with Pakistan. It claimed that after the way the government did the ceasefire, “it has lot moral courage and moral authority”.
Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said at a press conference at the Congress headquarters on Tuesday that the PM or the government should publicly clarify US President Donald Trump’s claims that his team worked overnight for the ceasefire.
“The PM has disappointed us. Last evening, he spoke about India’s future policy, the nuclear issue. The best job has been done by the armed forces. On the first day itself they picked nine terror infrastructure sites. Everyone appreciated what the armed forces were doing. We attacked them, we were told more than 100 terrorists have been killed,” Gehlot said.
“But the US has always tried to put pressure on India. Indira Gandhi didn’t buckle under pressure. Now Trump is coming into the picture, the government and the MEA should clarify the claims made by Trump. Trump is saying that his people worked overnight. Trump has equated India with Pakistan. My grievance is that the PM didn’t reply to these claims. We should have done so much damage to Pakistan that they would not have been able to promote terrorism,” he added.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh asked the government if it will form a probe panel as was done after the Kargil war.
“When the Kargil war ended... after 3 days, on 29th July, 1999, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee govt constituted the Kargil Review Committee, which had 5-6 members in it. It was chaired by K Subrahmanyam... the report of Kargil Review Committee was presented in Parliament on 23rd February 2000. NIA is investigating Pahalgam, but will there be a review? Will there be a briefing? “ asked Ramesh.
He also said, “The Congress party had fully supported Operation Sindoor... Even before the Prime Minister’s address, President Trump announced that he had stopped the war between India and Pakistan by staying in Washington. The Prime Minister did not say anything on this. The Prime Minister has to answer many questions but he was silent on that. In the last two weeks, two all-party meetings have been held, the Prime Minister was not present. Nothing could be discussed. We demand that the PM should call a meeting and take all Opposition leaders into confidence. What is President Trump announcing again and again? What is the truth behind this?”
A day after the Prime Minister’s address to the nation, Gehlot’s press conference and other reactions of the Congress indicated that the broad national unity among the Opposition and the government in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack might be fading away.
“The country wants to know what is the pressure on you so that you are not able to give clarifications on US’ claims. Whey the government didn’t clarify after the first tweet of trump that since 1971, our policy has been of no third party interference?” Gehlot said and claimed that a big damange has been done.
“After 11 years, the Opposition and the government were united. The entire country was united. This unity was destroyed by ED, CBI, IT for the past 11 years. On one side, we are proud of our forces but the other developments raises questions,” Gehlot said.
“The PM made a lot of promises. If you say the country will act against terror, then why did you pause this operation?” Gehlot said.
GOVERNMENT / BJP RESPONSE
