Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said there was a “security lapse” that led to the Pahalgam terror attack, and people could not be protected, though there is a three-tier security system.
Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, also stated that the Prime Minister was not present at the all-party meeting convened by the government.
“Once the government calls for a meeting, the Prime Minister, representing the government, must be present. His absence was not appropriate. Such a serious incident took place; around 26 people lost their lives, and many others were injured. PM went to Bihar to deliver election speeches but couldn’t come to Delhi. Instead of delivering speeches in English and Hindi elsewhere, he should have come here and given a proper explanation about what exactly happened. Why did it happen? Who is responsible? Was it a security lapse, an intelligence lapse, an IB lapse, an informant failure, or a police failure? We need to be informed about whose failure it was, but he did not even come,” he said.
Kharge said, “The central government has admitted that this was a security lapse”.
“That’s why a meeting was called. We told Amit Shah that this should be taken up as a challenge. Everything should have been properly arranged. It is because proper arrangements were not made, and the situation turned out this way. Amit Shah assured us that such incidents will not happen in the future. Despite a three-tier security system, they were unable to protect so many people. Still, from the perspective of the nation and its unity, we told them to come together to ensure the country’s protection. We also conveyed that we support the government’s decision,” he said.
The terrorists attacked tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on Tuesday, killing 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen while leaving several others injured, in one of the deadliest attacks in the valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.
Following the terror attack, India has taken strong measures against Pakistan for its support of cross-border terrorism.
The government has said that terrorists responsible for a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam and conspirators will face severe punishment.
Opposition parties have expressed their full support for the government’s action against perpetrators of the terror attack. (ANI)
