Congress MP Shashi Tharoor talks sense once again, says questioning the govt on security failure should be done after India gives a befitting response to Pahalgam massacre
On 27th April, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor once again talked sense while speaking to ANI on the Pahalgam terrorist attack. In his statement, while citing the example of Israel, Tharoor said that no country can ever have foolproof 100% intelligence. He further asserted that people of the country, including him, never know about the various terror attacks that were successfully thwarted.
“We only get to know about the ones that we failed to thwart,” he added. He said that questioning the government on security failure should be done once India gives a befitting response to Pahalgam massacre.
Shashi Tharoor pointed out that it was an intelligence failure but “we have got the example of Israel, the world’s best intelligence services according to everybody, which were taken by surprise on October 7, just two years ago. It seems to me, just as Israel is waiting till the end of the war before they demand accountability.”
“We will never know about the various terror attacks that were successfully thwarted. We only learn about the ones that we failed to thwart. This is normal in any nation. There were failures, I agree, but that should not be our main focus right now,” the Congress leader said.
Tharoor had dismantled narrative of the opposition over Indians being deported while being in opposition
This is not the first time the Congress leader has chosen to divert from his party’s narrative on a topic and speak his mind openly. In early February this year, when illegal Indians living in the United States were being deported, opposition parties, including Congress, tried to paint a picture that the PM Modi-led Indian government failed at foreign policy. However, speaking to ANI, Tharoor said it was not the first deportation and would not be the last.
Tharoor said, “This is not the first deportation and won’t be the last, even before Trump came, during the Biden regime, there were already 1,100 Indians sent back from America. The Americans estimate that 7,25,000 undocumented Indians are eligible for deportations. They have arrested around 2 lakh Indians from the Mexico and Canada borders in the last four years. If they are citizens of India, we have an obligation to take them back, there is no debate about it.”
At a time when India is standing tall against the terrorists and the hostile neighbour Pakistan, several political leaders have chosen the path of blaming the government. Tharoor’s words, however, show a balanced approach. While he agreed that there was an intelligence failure, he also stressed that unity is needed as India prepares to give a strong response. In a time of crisis such as the Pahalgam terrorist attack, it is essential for political leaders to stand with the country while seeking answers, instead of going for a completely anti-government narrative to score political points.
Pahalgam Terrorist Attack
On 22nd February, terrorists affiliated with The Resistance Force (TRF), which is an offshoot of Pakistan-based Islamic terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, orchestrated the deadly Pahalgam attack that claimed the lives of 27 Hindus. The victims were asked if they were Muslim and told to recite the Kalma. Their trousers were pulled down to check if they were circumcised. Those who failed the circumcision test were shot dead.
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