Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi got up abruptly in Parliament to ask “aapne roki kyun (why did you stop)?” when defence minister Rajnath Singh spoke of how India agreed to a cessation of hostilities after Operation Sindoor in May.
Their exchange took place during the Lok Sabha special debate on India's response to Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack.
Before Rahul Gandhi intervened, Rajnath Singh said, in Hindi: “We gave the defence forces complete freedom, to choose the targets, and deliver a hard-hitting reply.”
He added, “On the morning of 10 May, after the Indian Air Force destroyed several of their airbases, Pakistan conceded defeat and sought to cease hostilities.”
{{/usCountry}}He added, “On the morning of 10 May, after the Indian Air Force destroyed several of their airbases, Pakistan conceded defeat and sought to cease hostilities.”
{{/usCountry}}However, he was interrupted as he was saying: “They (Pakistan) called our DGMO and said, ‘sir, please stop now, it’s enough. (Maharaj, ab rok dijiiye; bahut ho gaya’, and we accepted their request with the caveat that…”
At this, Rahul got up briefly and asked, “Toh aapne (kaarvayi) roki kyun? (Why did you stop the operation then?)”
Ruling alliance MPs got up agitatedly, too, as Rajnath gestured and asked Rahul Gandhi to sit down.
“I have already spoken about that in detail in my speech," Rajnath then said, "I respect the right of the Leader of Opposition to ask questions, but he should listen to my entire speech.”
Earlier, the minister said India's intention was only to hit terror hubs, and not to escalate. He spoke of a call made by India's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) to his Pakistan counterpart minutes after the strikes on nine targets by the Indian forces. “We told them we do not intend to escalate… but they did not understand our rationale,” he said.
But it was the latter reference to another phone call that agitated Rahul Gandhi — this one reportedly made by the Pakistan DGMO to his Indian counterpart to seek a ceasefire. This call came after Pakistan, too, had struck some Indian areas.
At the heart of it is the manner in which ceasefire was declared, and the claimed role of US President Donald Trump.
The Congress has stressed that India should have “finished the job” rather than agree to the cessation of fighting.
“The entire country, the Opposition too, was supporting PM Modi. Suddenly, on 10th May, we got to know that there had been a ceasefire. Why?” asked Gaurav Gogoi, Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, after Rajnath's speech.
"We wanted to know from PM Modi that if Pakistan was ready to kneel down, then why did you stop, and to whom did you surrender? The US President has said this 26 times that he forced India and Pakistan to announce a ceasefire," he added.