By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Indian opposition parties on Tuesday launched a fierce assault on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing his government of weakness and mismanagement during a four-day military confrontation with Pakistan earlier this year, charging that it lacked the resolve to confront Islamabad and hindered the armed forces’ ability to respond effectively.
The criticism centers on a tense conflict in early May, triggered when India conducted deadly air strikes on Pakistan following allegations of Pakistani involvement in the Pahalgam attack, an accusation Islamabad has steadfastly denied. The situation spiraled as Pakistan’s air force shot down six Indian jets in retaliation, leading to tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases. The escalating clash between the two nuclear-armed neighbors was ultimately defused through the US intervention on May 10, resulting in a ceasefire.
In a fiery address during the monsoon session of India’s lower house of parliament, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi delivered a blistering rebuke of Modi’s administration. “Modi’s government lacked the political will to fight Pakistan and, because of that, asked the armed forces to attack with their hands tied behind their backs,” Gandhi said, as reported by NDTV. He accused the government of undermining the military’s efforts, adding, “Don’t make the army a means to save your image, Modi ji.”
Gandhi also challenged Modi to publicly refute claims by former US President Donald Trump regarding his role in brokering the ceasefire and the downing of Indian aircraft. “If Modi ji has even 50 percent of the courage that Indira Gandhi had, then clearly say in parliament, Donald Trump is lying,” Gandhi declared. He pressed the prime minister to deny that Trump mediated the ceasefire or that Indian planes were lost, citing the Indian Chief of Defence Staff’s admission that jets had indeed been shot down by Pakistan. “CDS Gen Chauhan should have the guts to say that my hands were tied behind my back by my own government,” Gandhi remarked.
The opposition leader further criticised a revelation attributed to the Indian Defence Minister, claiming it exposed the government’s hesitancy. “The defence minister said the most shocking thing. He said that, at 1:35 am, we called Pakistan and told them we had hit non-military targets and didn’t want an escalation,” Gandhi said. “You told the Pakistanis exactly what you would do, that you would not hit military targets. You told them directly that you don’t have the political will to fight. It’s like you are telling them, ‘We have slapped you, but we won’t slap you further.’” He argued that this communication, relayed through the Director General of Military Operations, signaled a premature push for a ceasefire that very night.
Other opposition figures amplified the attack. Gaurav Gogoi, Deputy Leader of the Congress party in the lower house, questioned the adequacy of India’s military resources. “You think 35 Rafale jets are enough, we don’t think so. Even losing one would be a big loss,” Gogoi said, according to the Economic Times. He also took aim at the government’s narrative, noting, “The media, which gets its information from you, made it seem like we would wake up in Karachi the next day, but you stopped short.”
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi pointed to failures in intelligence and oversight. “Agencies failed. This falls under the home minister, did he resign? Did he even take responsibility?” she asked, questioning why Modi agreed to halt the war. In the Upper House, Opposition Leader Mallikarjun Kharge raised suspicions about the government’s foreknowledge of the Pahalgam attack. “PM [Modi] cancelled his schedule three days before the Pahalgam attack, was the govt aware in advance?” Kharge asked. He also pressed Modi on his silence regarding Trump’s claim that five Indian jets were downed, saying, “Trump says five jets were shot down. If he’s your friend and you campaign for him, why are you silent on this?”
The government mounted a vigorous defense. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh rejected allegations of buckling under pressure to end the fighting. “India halted its operation because all the political and military objectives studied before and during the conflict had been fully achieved,” Singh told parliament during a discussion on the Pahalgam attack. “To suggest that the operation was called off under pressure is baseless and entirely incorrect.”
Meanwhile, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that security forces had killed three individuals he described as “Pakistanis” linked to the Pahalgam attack. “I want to tell … the entire nation that these were the three terrorists who killed our citizens … and now all three have been killed,” Shah declared in parliament, as reported by Reuters. He said the three were neutralized in an intense gun battle in a Kashmir forest on Monday, citing evidence including Pakistani voter identity cards recovered from two of them and chocolates made in Pakistan. Forensic tests, Shah added, confirmed that the rifles they carried were used in the April attack.
Across the border, Pakistani security sources accused India of resuming “fake encounters” under the pretext of counterterrorism operations. State-run Radio Pakistan reported on Monday that these sources alleged India plans to “use” detained Pakistanis in such staged incidents, a claim that further underscores the deep mistrust between the two nations.
The heated exchanges in parliament reflect the high stakes of the debate, as opposition leaders seek to hold Modi’s government accountable for its handling of a volatile national security crisis, while the administration defends its actions as decisive and effective.
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