'You Failed To Protect Them': Priyanka Gandhi Shreds Centre On Pahalgam

Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today launched a scathing attack on the government during the Operation Sindoor debate in Parliament, questioning the intelligence failure that led to the Pahalgam terror attack and why a popular tourist destination was left completely unguarded. 

"The Defence Minister spoke for an hour. Other ruling party MPs spoke too. Everything was spoken about, from Operation Sindoor to terrorism to national security to history. But one subject was skipped. On April 22, 2025, when 26 people were killed in front of their families, how did this attack happen, why did it happen?" she said.

The government, Ms Gandhi said, had been claiming that terrorism had ended in Kashmir and asking people to visit the Valley. "Shubham Dwivedi and his family decided to go to Kashmir. He married 6 months before that. On April 22, the weather was nice at Baisaran Valley. Many tourists reached there. The children were playing on a trampoline, someone was ziplining, someone was having tea and someone was enjoying the scenic beauty. And then four terrorists come from the jungle and kill Shubham in front of his wife. For the next one hour, they identify 25 others and kill them."

Quoting Shubham's wife Aishanya, Ms Gandhi said, "I saw my world end. There was not a single security guard. The country and the government had abandoned us there."

"Why wasn't a single soldier deployed there? Did the government not know that 1,000-1,500 people go there every day? There was no security, no first aid. These people went there sarkaar bharose (after trusting the government) and the government left them bhagwan bharose (to God's grace)," the Wayanad MP thundered.

Ms Gandhi asked if the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister, the Home Minister and the NSA are not responsible for Indians' security. "Two weeks before the attack, the Home Minister went to Kashmir and said terrorism had been defeated. And three months after the attack, the Lieutenant Governor casually says he takes responsibility for the security lapse in Baisaran Valley. And the matter ends there. No one asks any questions."

The Resistance Front, the terror outfit that claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, was declared a terrorist organisation three years after it was formed in 2019, Ms Gandhi said. "So the ruling party leaders are saying they knew about all this, but not a single agency got wind of the planning of this heinous attack. Isn't this a failure of our security agencies? It is a massive failure," she said.

Drawing a parallel with the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008, she said, "The ruling party leaders talked about the 2008 attacks in Mumbai and said the Manmohan Singh government did nothing. They must know that all the terrorists, except one, were gunned down that day. And the one left was hanged in 2012. The Maharashtra Chief Minister resigned, and the country's Home Minister resigned. There was an accountability towards the people of this country."

She said Delhi witnessed riots, Manipur burned and the Pahalgam attack took place on Home Minister Amit Shah's watch. "The country wants to know what happened on April 22. You are busy patting your own back. If our country is attacked, everyone in this House, from any party, will back you. And we are proud of our forces for fighting bravely. But the Prime Minister wants to take the credit for Operation Sindoor. But leadership is not just about taking credit, one has to take responsibility too," she said.

Referring to the US President Donald Trump announcing the ceasefire between India and Pakistan before the government, the Congress leader said this "is the biggest sign of the irresponsibility of the Prime Minister".

"The Home Minister did not answer why the ceasefire happened when the enemy was at our mercy. He spoke about my mother's tears. My mother wept when her husband became a martyr in a terrorist act. Today I am standing and speaking about these 26 people because I feel the pain," she said. The country, she said, does not just want revenge, but also a commitment to everyone's safety. "It also wants not just the valour of the forces, but the government's honesty too."

"This government always tries to evade questions. Its political cowardice is unparalleled. They have no accountability to the people. Everything is PR and politics for them," she said. "What happened in Pahalgam has hurt everyone. Everyone in this House has security. Wherever we go, security personnel come with us. And on that day, 26 sons, fathers, husbands died. None of them got any security. You can carry out as many operations, but you cannot deny this. You did not protect them."

The Congress leader ended her speech by reciting the names of all the 26 innocents murdered in cold blood on April 25. "I want to read their names so that every member realises they were humans like us. They are not political pawns. They are sons and martyrs of this country. All of us are accountable to their families," she said.