Oppn calls Modi govt "total failure" in its handling of Pathankot attack

Congress, other parties question contradictory statements by Home Minister

With the Pathankot terror attack entering its third day, Congress and opposition parties lambasted the Modi government for its “total failure” in handling the incident. Parties across the board, questioned why the Cabinet Committee of Security had not met even once and highlighted the breakdown of institutional mechanism in the government.

Congress asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “giving a new description of terrorists as ‘enemies of humanity’ instead of describing them as ‘Pakistani terrorists’, while CPM highlighted the “contradictory” statements made by the home minister Rajnath Singh.

Even the Samajwadi Party lashed out at the “total failure of the Modi government” and its foreign policy in relation to Pakistan. Congress President Sonia Gandhi issued a statement today terming the internal security situation as “serious” and condoled the loss of seven security personnel in the ongoing terror attack.

Ajay Maken Congress spokesperson hit out at the government saying, \"Institutions are functioning in isolation and not in tandem, which is scary. Even the Home Minister is not aware how many terrorists were neutralised. The Home Minister does not even know that whether the operation is yet over or not. After Home Minister says that the operation is over, the Home Secretary says it is continuing.”

Maken said that the Congreess has always maintained that \"Talks and terror cannot go side by side. Government has to come out openly to tell the very facts” but stopped short of demanding that the upcoming foreign secretary level talks between India and Pakistan be called off.

Underscoring the lack of political leadership in the government Maken said that even as the assault continued the Prime Minister Modi, was busy propagating yoga at a gathering in Karnataka, “Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was preoccupied in his home state of Goa, as always.

A usually out of loop Home Minister Rajnath Singh first declared the operation to flush out terrorist successful through a tweet and said that 5 terrorists have been killed. After being contradicted by his Home Secretary, he shockingly deleted his own tweet.External Affairs Ministers, Sushma Swaraj, in the meanwhile, calls a meeting of ex-envoys.”

Maken asserted, "Complete disharmony and disjointed responses by those responsible for providing leadership in this time of a serious terror attack speaks volumes about the political leadership as also command and control structures within the Government."

The Congress was not alone in its pointed attack on the government, Samajwadi Party’s Naresh Aggarwal tore into the Modi government’s ‘total failure.’ Aggarwal speaking to Business Standard pointed out that the Indian government had not isolated Pakistan for such terror incidents leading to no condemnation from the international community on the Pathankot incident. “Is PM Modi under some sort of pressure due to which he carried out this ill-advised trip to Lahore?” asked Aggarwal. Adding, “It’s a total failure of the government’s Pakistan policy.”

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury had on Sunday itself questioned the role of the "56-inch government". "Till today morning it was announced that all the terrorists were killed and our jawans have lost lives. We were told that the attack was over and today we heard that the attack is still going on. What is this happening? Why are attacks taking place in the country?" Yechury asked. "What is happening to the condition of the 56-inch government." CPM's Lok Sabha MP Mohd. Salim speaking to Business Standard today, lambasted the "directionless foreign policy of the Modi government and its flip flops." "The PM was making such loud claims after the Lahore visit, what happened?" he asked.

The JD(U) has been unsparing in its attack on the Modi government with Rajya Sabha leader KC Tyagi stating, “National security is not the internal affairs of the BJP.” The government must call all Opposition parties and take them on board as to what their policy is. “Why was the CCS not summoned, is Ajit Doval all in one ? The attack is of such intensity its going on for three days, should the government not have taken other parties into confidence.”