Operation Sindoor debate: Gaurav Gogoi leads opposition charge against government in Lok Sabha; asks 'how terrorists reached Pahalgam?'

NEW DELHI: As the Parliament on Monday continued debating the government’s military response under Operation Sindoor , a cross-border counter-terror operation after the Pahalgam terror attack , Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi sharply criticised defence minister Rajnath Singh ’s speech, accusing the government of failing to answer basic questions about the April 22 attack .

Singh had earlier hailed the swift 22-minute military strike that reportedly targeted over 100 terrorists in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, declaring that India acted with “decisive strength” and “moral clarity” under Prime Minister Modi's leadership.

While Rajnath Singh laid out a detailed defence of Operation Sindoor, Gaurav Gogoi focused his response on what he described as the government's silence over internal security lapses and the origin of the Pahalgam attack that claimed at least 22 civilian lives.

Here are Gaurav Gogoi’s top quotes from his Lok Sabha speech:

• “The country wants to know—100 days have passed since the Pahalgam attack, but this government has not brought the terrorists to justice.”
  
• “Rajnath Singh ji gave a lot of information, but did not say—how did the terrorists reach Pahalgam? That too is his responsibility as the Defence Minister.”
  
• “You speak of bravery and action, but the families of the victims still ask—how did the attack happen in the first place?”
  
• “Our soldiers are brave, our forces did their job, but the government’s job is to ensure attacks like Pahalgam never happen again.”
  
• “We are not questioning the army—we are questioning the government's failure to prevent the massacre. It is our constitutional duty to ask these questions in the interest of the nation.”
  
• "We want to know from Rajnath Singh ji today how many of our fighter jets were downed. We have to tell this not just to the public but also to our jawans, as they are being lied to as well..."
  
• “If some Rafale jets have been downed, I think it is a big loss.”
  
• “The entire country, and the Opposition, were supporting PM Modi. Suddenly, on 10th May, we got to know that there had been a ceasefire. Why? We wanted to know from PM Modi that if Pakistan was ready to kneel down, then why did you stop, and to whom did you surrender? The US President has said this 26 times that he forced India and Pakistan to announce a ceasefire."