In the all-party meeting held at Parliament on Thursday over the Pahalgam attack, the opposition has pointed questions at the Centre. The meeting called by Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh came a day after the centre announced retaliatory measures against Pakistan.
According to NDTV, the question was formally raised by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and echoed by several others, including Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh. The opposition leader asked why the security personnel were not deployed at the site of the attack.
Meanwhile, the government explained that the Baisaran area is secured ahead of the Amarnath Yatra, which begins in June. It is then that the route is opened officially and security forces are deployed in order to ensure the safety of the pilgrims who rest at Baisaran en route to the Amarnath cave shrine.
Local tour operators, according to Centre, allegedly began taking tourists to the region starting from April 20, well before the security apparatus had been mobilised for the pilgrimage season.
According to the report, the government representatives at the meeting stressed that the local administration had not been informed about the early commencement of tourist visits. So, no deployment of troops had occurred, the government said.
On being asked why the Centre suspended the Indus Waters Treaty if India lacks storage capacity, the centre said that the move was not about immediate outcomes but a symbolic and strategic gesture.
"The treaty was suspended to show the government's intention to take strict action. This has been done to give a strong message. This decision also tells what the government's stand is going to be in the future," the government said.
The key meeting saw the participation of the top political leaders across parties. Besides Mallikarjun Kharge, the meeting was also attended by Rahul Gandhi, BJP President and Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha JP Nadda, among others.