Amit Shah Hits Back at Opposition, Defends Security Response to Pahalgam Terror Attack

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday strongly rebutted Opposition criticism in the Lok Sabha, asserting that the Centre had delivered a firm and swift response to the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam. He confirmed that security forces neutralised three terrorists involved in the attack under Operation Mahadev.

Addressing the House during the debate on Operation Sindoor, Shah declared that he was ready to take responsibility as Home Minister but would not tolerate politically motivated attacks. “Our policy is clear—zero tolerance for terrorism. The perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack have been punished,” he said. “Forces ne thok diya,” he added, underscoring the decisive retaliation by the armed forces.

Shah didn’t stop at defending the government’s action. He turned the tables on the Congress, accusing successive Congress-led governments of weakening the national security framework. He criticised their alleged soft stance on separatists and terror sympathisers, saying such politics had long endangered the country’s internal stability.

He cited the 2008 Batla House encounter to illustrate his point, accusing the Congress of sympathising with terror suspects instead of supporting law enforcement. “Tears were shed for the accused, not for Inspector Mohan Sharma, who laid down his life for the nation,” Shah said, targeting former party chief Sonia Gandhi and senior leader Salman Khurshid.

Revisiting key moments in India’s counter-terrorism policy, Shah criticised the UPA government’s decision to scrap the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in 2004. He claimed that the repeal paved the way for a wave of deadly terror attacks. Among those he listed were the 2005 Ram Lalla tent attack, the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, the Doda massacre, the Ahmedabad blasts, and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

The Home Minister also pointed out that several most-wanted terrorists fled India under Congress regimes. He noted that Dawood Ibrahim left the country in 1986, followed by Tiger Memon and Aness Ibrahim in 1993.

In a sharp concluding attack, Shah said it was time for the Congress and Leader of the Opposition to answer how such terrorists were allowed to escape justice. “We’ve done our duty by eliminating the Pahalgam attackers. Now let the Opposition explain who let these enemies of the nation flee when they were in power,” he asserted.

The fiery exchange followed continued Opposition allegations that the Pahalgam attackers had fled despite intelligence inputs, and calls for Shah to accept responsibility for the security lapse.