Five questions from Abhishek Banerjee to Centre on Pahalgam massacre

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress General Secretary and the party’s Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee, on Monday, posed five questions to the Centre on the ghastly terror attack at Pahalgam in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) in which Hindu tourists were selectively killed in April this year.

In a statement which Banerjee posted on the wall of his official X handle, he also attacked the Opposition parties and the media for refraining from seeking the answers to these five questions from the Union government.

“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. However, as a citizen committed to the nation’s well-being and as a public representative entrusted with accountability, I raise these five questions before the Government of India,” the statement by Banerjee read.

“The first question is how did the four terrorists manage to infiltrate the border and launch an attack that killed 26 innocent civilians and where was the accountability for this massive breach in national security in the matter?” he said.

“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 being held accountable? What is the compulsion? If the Government of India 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?” the second question read.

The third question was about the current status of the four terrorists who were responsible for the Pahalgam massacre.

“Where are the four terrorists responsible for this brutal, religion-based massacre? Are they dead or alive? If they have been neutralised, why has the government failed to make a clear statement? And if they haven’t, why is there silence?” the third question read.

In his fourth question, Banerjee had sought a specific deadline from the Union government for the goal to make Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) an integral part of India. In the same question, Banerjee enquired why India did not officially respond to the U.S. 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?” the fourth question read.

The fifth and final question was more elaborate dealing with global diplomacy in the matter.

In this question, Banerjee demanded clarification on how many of the 33 countries that were approached after the Pahalgam massacre, 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?” Banerjee questioned.

At the same time, he questioned, how was Pakistan the vice-chair of the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee barely a month after the Pahalgam massacre.

“Over ₹2000000000000 (two 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! The nation awaits a response!” Banerjee’s final question read.

IANS