In a sharp address to the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday during the debate on Operation Sindoor, Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a scathing attack on the Congress, holding it responsible for the loss of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and asserting that it would be reclaimed under the Bharatiya Janata Party’s leadership.
Speaking in the Upper House, Shah remarked, “I want to tell the Congress party, it was you who gave away Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), but it is the BJP that will bring it back.” He detailed India’s retaliatory actions following the Pahalgam terror attack and emphasised that while India targeted terrorist infrastructure, Pakistan misconstrued it as an attack on itself.
VIDEO | Addressing the Rajya Sabha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “I want to tell the Congress party, it was you who gave away Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), but it is the BJP that will bring it back. We carried out targeted strikes on terrorist hideouts, on their… pic.twitter.com/FKOtJlXmQe
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 30, 2025
Shah added, “We carried out targeted strikes on terrorist hideouts, on their headquarters, their organisations, their training camps and launching pads. Our attack was on terrorism, but Pakistan mistook it as an attack on itself.”
‘Operation Sindoor Was Not a War’: Amit Shah
Responding to criticism about PoK not being captured, Shah stated, “Why did we not take PoK? They (the opposition) were jumping up and down asking this… Today, I want to clarify before the entire country—Operation Sindoor was not a war. We acted under Chapter 7 of Article 51 of the UN Charter and used our right to self-defence.”
Referring to the April 22 Pahalgam attack, Shah said, “On 22 April, terrorists carried out an attack in Pahalgam. In response, we had the right to dismantle the entire terror ecosystem, a right recognised globally, and we exercised that right.” He further mentioned, “When Pakistan said it didn’t want conflict, we accepted it…”
J&K Will Be Free of Terrorism: Shah
According to ANI, Shah reaffirmed the government’s commitment to eradicating terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir. “Today, standing in this House, I promise that Jammu and Kashmir will be free from terrorism. This is the resolve of the Narendra Modi government,” he declared.
He criticised the Congress for staging a walkout during the debate, alleging that the party prioritised politics over national security. “Yesterday, you (Congress) were asking why they (Pahalgam terrorists) were killed on this day? Why should they not have been killed yesterday? Because Rahul Gandhi was supposed to deliver his speech? It doesn’t work like this. The entire country is seeing that Congress’ priority is not national security and ending terrorism but it is politics, their vote bank and appeasement politics,” he said.
Shah On Operation Mahadev
Elaborating on the government’s response, Shah revealed that security forces neutralised the perpetrators nearly 100 days after the attack. “Under Operation Mahadev, our armed forces successfully killed three terrorists. Among them, Suleiman, a commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was identified as the individual who had opened fire during the Pahalgam attack. Hamza Afghani, also a commander of LeT, was another high-ranking operative eliminated during the operation. Additionally, Zibran, a terrorist associated with LeT, was among those killed. The evidence unequivocally points to Lashkar-e-Taiba’s involvement in orchestrating the Pahalgam attack.”
He added that following the incident, “one of their outfits, TRF, claimed responsibility for killing innocent civilians. I reached there the same day and held a security review meeting. In that meeting, it was decided that they must be caught as soon as possible — but more urgently, we had to ensure they didn’t flee to Pakistan…”
Referring to Pakistan’s retaliation, Shah noted, ”…We attacked their (Pakistan) terror camps, terror launching pads and terror training camps, but they (Pakistan) considered it as an attack on their country. As a response, on 8th May, Pakistan attacked residential areas in India and defence installations. On 9th May, India attacked and destroyed Pakistan’s 11 defence installations and airbases…After this, Pakistan was not in a position to fight back…”
In conclusion, Shah underlined that Prime Minister Modi had brought a decisive shift in India’s defence posture. ”…Earlier, we only kept sending dossiers, but Narendra Modi gave a reply to them (Pakistan) with airstrike and surgical strike…Khauf paida ho gaya…”
(This is a breaking news story and is being updated. Please refresh for the latest updates.)
