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All-party Meet Condemns Pahalgam Attack

Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju briefed leaders on the steps approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security, including enhanced intelligence oversight and imminent “more stringent action.”

New Delhi: In a bipartisan move both the government and the Opposition parties in one voice condemned the dastardly attack in Pahalgam. The Opposition, standing strongly behind the Modi government, told the Centre to take any action they deem fit as the government on Thursday briefed leaders of various political parties on the Pahalgam terror attack and heard their views at an all-party meeting here. Insiders say that the government admitted that there were lapses and that is why we are sitting here to discuss things — "We want to fix things and are open to suggestions".

At the beginning of the meeting, a moment of silence was observed for the victims of the attack. The Opposition parties and the government in one voice condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam.

Briefing the media after the meeting, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said, "The defence minister informed leaders of various political parties about the incident that happened in Pahalgam and the actions taken by the Indian government in the CCS meeting. This incident is very sad. Due to which everyone in the country is worried… Keeping this in mind, the Indian government has also expressed its intention to take more stringent action today.”

Mr Rijiju further added that leaders of various political parties were briefed by the Intelligence Bureau and ministry of home affairs officials on lapses and steps being taken to prevent recurrence.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said: “We all were briefed by Rajnath Ji. We told them that they should ensure that peace is there in Kashmir. We all condemned the attack.”

Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said that the entire Opposition supported the government and told them to take any action they deem fit. Mr Gandhi will travel to Jammu and Kashmir on April 25 and meet those injured in the Pahalgam terror attack. The Congress leader will also visit the government medical college in Anantnag to enquire about the health of the injured. The Congress has also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have been present in the meeting.

Coming out of the meeting, Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that all parties demanded action by the government for the destruction of terror camps.

Trinamul Congress MP Sudip Bandhyopadhyay said the issue of possible security lapses was also discussed, but the Opposition assured that it was with the government in the fight against terrorism. "The nation must be totally united in this fight to eliminate terrorism," the TMC MP said.

IUML MP Haris Beeran asked for a two-day Parliament session to discuss the situation.

Besides the defence minister and parliamentary affairs minister, Union home minister Amit Shah, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman were present from the government's side.

Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha J.P. Nadda, Mr Kharge and Mr Gandhi, along with leaders of various Opposition parties, were present at the meeting chaired by Mr Singh. Those who attended the meeting included NCP(SP)'s Supriya Sule, NCP's Praful Patel, AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, BJD's Sasmit Patra, TDP's Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde, Mr Singh, Mr Bandopadhyay, RJD's Premchand Gupta, DMK's T. Siva and SP's Ram Gopal Yadav


( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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