Kolkata: TMC top brass and MP Abhishek Banerjee has attacked the Centre over the Pahalgam terror attack and raised five questions on his official X account on border security, foreign policy, alleged intelligence failure, and its “inability” to take the nation into confidence.
Banerjee wrote a long post on X in which he said, “It has been over 55 days since the Pahalgam terror attack. It is deeply concerning that in a democracy, neither the mainstream media, members of the opposition, nor the judiciary has stepped forward to raise these five critical questions before the Government of India.”
His first question is, “How did four terrorists manage to infiltrate the border and launch an attack that killed 26 innocent civilians? Where is the accountability for this massive breach in national security?” The next question of Banerjee is, “If this was an intelligence failure, why was the Intelligence Bureau Chief granted a ONE YEAR EXTENSION, that too barely a month after the attack? Why was he REWARDED RATHER THAN HELD ACCOUNTABLE ? WHAT IS THE COMPULSION ? If the GOI can conveniently use PEGASUS spyware against opposition leaders(including me), journalists and even judges, what stops it from using the same tools against terrorist networks and suspects?”
Banerjee’s third question is on the status of the terrorists where he asked, “Where are the FOUR TERRORIST responsible for this brutal, religion-based massacre? ARE THEY DEAD OR ALIVE? If they have been neutralized, why has the government failed to make a clear statement? And if they haven’t, WHY IS THE SILENCE?”
He next raised the question of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the ceasefire and asked, “When will India reclaim Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir? Why hasn’t the government officially responded to the US President’s claim that he persuaded India into a ceasefire with promises of trade? Just as the nation stood together irrespective of their cast, creed religion and political affinity, celebrating the triumph of righteousness and saluting the valour and sacrifice of our armed forces?” WHY WERE THE EMOTIONS OF 140 CRORE INDIANS DISREGARDED? What led to such a compromise?”
Banerjee touched upon the topic of India’s global outreach after Operation Sindoor, and said, “After reaching out to 33 COUNTRIES post-Pahalgam in the last one month, how many extended explicit support to India? If we are truly a VISHWAGURU and the world’s fourth-largest economy, why did the IMF and World Bank approve $1 BILLION and $40 BILLION in financial assistance and long-term investments to PAKISTAN IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PAHALGAM ATTACK? How did a nation repeatedly involved in cross-border terrorism not only escape global scrutiny but get rewarded?”
He also asked, “Why was Pakistan appointed Vice-Chair of the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee barely a month later?” Banerjee ended his questionnaire with, “Over Rs 2 LAKH CRORES has been spent on external affairs over the past 10 years. The Indian public deserves transparency, accountability and results- NOT SILENCE AND SPIN!”
Abhishek Banerjee was part of foreign delegation
Notably, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee was part of the Centre’s delegations sent to foreign nations to highlight India’s stance against terrorism after Operation Sindoor. The delegation of Banerjee was led by JDU MP Sanjay Kumar Jha and it visited Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore. The delegation also had Ambassador Mohan Kumar, BJP MP Pradan Baruah, BJP MP Brij Lal, BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi, JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, CPI(M) MP John Brittas, and BJP MP Dr Hemang Joshi. Also in the group was former External Affairs Minister and Congress veteran Salman Khurshid.
While speaking in Japan, Banerjee branded Pakistan as the “vile handler” of terrorism. He was addressing the Indian diaspora there when he said, “If terrorism is a rabid dog, Pakistan is its vile handler. We must first unite the world to tackle this wild handler, or else it will continue to breed more rabid dogs.” It was the first detailed statement by a TMC functionary on Operation Sindoor and its aftermath.
He also said, “We are all aware of how Pakistan tried to dissociate Lashkar from the list. Moreover, after the air strikes, public domain images showed senior Pakistan army officials attending the funerals of the terrorists killed in the strikes. Footage does not lie, it’s all in the open. We are here to convey the truth, India refuses to bow down. We will not yield to fear. We have learnt to respond in a language that they understand.”
