Lawmakers urge clarity on Operation Sindoor and near-war events after Pahalgam attack
The call for a special Parliament session for the government to share what took place on the borders with all the people’s representatives makes sense. Amid all the chatter that is rising now after time has passed since the monstrous attack on tourists in the Kashmir Valley and the consequent running of Operation Sindoor, what is worth holding is a special session.
The government is, after all, deputing the cream of MPs to go abroad and explain to 35 world governments what happened since Pakistan’ perfidy through sponsored terror used as an instrument of state policy erupted to hit Pahalgam. It is time to go the whole hog and address the 500 or so other MPs who are not part of the seven delegations disseminating the Indian view to the world.
A government overview of all the events since April 22 would be welcomed as a way of sharing information with all the representatives of the people.
National security might not permit a full rendering of all that happened, especially the losses that nations and their people incur in hostilities with neighbours in war-like situations. But there is so much else that can be revealed without invoking fears of national security being compromised.
For instance, the government may not have to explain if any of the Rafale fleet took a hit even if it was explicitly stated that all the pilots landed (or bailed out) safely. The rising interest in companies selling BrahMos missiles and the equipment that make up the Indian integrated aerial defence system, besides the Chinese companies that make fighter jets, give some indication of what came through as aggressive weapons of war and which country emerged unscathed from the exchanges.
There is a lot else the government can spell out, including what the delegations are telling foreign governments about the events that have helped churn the geopolitics of the subcontinent. Otherwise, there will only be the dust arising from a peculiar Indian impatience that will occupy space with politicians suddenly becoming experts in analysing defence matters too and sprouting opinions that are embarrassing to hear in the wake of a successful defence of the nation.
There is a restiveness that can be put to rest if the executive is forthcoming with more facts at a time of national reckoning when an enemy at the door was beaten back with a counteroffensive that may have knocked out a substantial part of the enemy nation’s air defences and fighter jets in their air base hangars that were hit.
The twin track of using delegations of MPs and foreign service officials to brief foreign governments and holding a special Parliament session for all MPs, if they choose to sit through, listen and discuss what happened, would be an ideal way for the nation to come to terms with the difficult circumstances in which innocent Indians were shot in a deadly attack as a consequence of which India was close to having to wage a full-scale war against Pakistan after Kargil in 1999.
The session could also be the platform on which the government can clear up the doubts caused by the US President Donald Trump claiming that he had stopped a nuclear war. A formal statement in Parliament on this may help clear the confusion of a mediator claiming the credit for Pakistan seeking a ceasefire after four days of hostilities. As the saying goes, the nation would like to know.
The call for a special Parliament session for the government to share what took place on the borders with all the people’s representatives makes sense. Amid all the chatter that is rising now after time has passed since the monstrous attack on tourists in the Kashmir Valley and the consequent running of Operation Sindoor, what is worth holding is a special session.
The government is, after all, deputing the cream of MPs to go abroad and explain to 35 world governments what happened since Pakistan’ perfidy through sponsored terror used as an instrument of state policy erupted to hit Pahalgam. It is time to go the whole hog and address the 500 or so other MPs who are not part of the seven delegations disseminating the Indian view to the world.
A government overview of all the events since April 22 would be welcomed as a way of sharing information with all the representatives of the people.
National security might not permit a full rendering of all that happened, especially the losses that nations and their people incur in hostilities with neighbours in war-like situations. But there is so much else that can be revealed without invoking fears of national security being compromised.
For instance, the government may not have to explain if any of the Rafale fleet took a hit even if it was explicitly stated that all the pilots landed (or bailed out) safely. The rising interest in companies selling BrahMos missiles and the equipment that make up the Indian integrated aerial defence system, besides the Chinese companies that make fighter jets, give some indication of what came through as aggressive weapons of war and which country emerged unscathed from the exchanges.
There is a lot else the government can spell out, including what the delegations are telling foreign governments about the events that have helped churn the geopolitics of the subcontinent. Otherwise, there will only be the dust arising from a peculiar Indian impatience that will occupy space with politicians suddenly becoming experts in analysing defence matters too and sprouting opinions that are embarrassing to hear in the wake of a successful defence of the nation.
There is a restiveness that can be put to rest if the executive is forthcoming with more facts at a time of national reckoning when an enemy at the door was beaten back with a counteroffensive that may have knocked out a substantial part of the enemy nation’s air defences and fighter jets in their air base hangars that were hit.
The twin track of using delegations of MPs and foreign service officials to brief foreign governments and holding a special Parliament session for all MPs, if they choose to sit through, listen and discuss what happened, would be an ideal way for the nation to come to terms with the difficult circumstances in which innocent Indians were shot in a deadly attack as a consequence of which India was close to having to wage a full-scale war against Pakistan after Kargil in 1999.
The session could also be the platform on which the government can clear up the doubts caused by the US President Donald Trump claiming that he had stopped a nuclear war. A formal statement in Parliament on this may help clear the confusion of a mediator claiming the credit for Pakistan seeking a ceasefire after four days of hostilities. As the saying goes, the nation would like to know.
