Cong Versus Senior Leaders over Op Sindoor

The dissonance between senior Congress leaders travelling abroad as part of all-party parliamentary delegations and the party’s official stance back home has become too glaring to be ignored. It is not surprising that Congress leaders who at odds with the party line are experienced hands who have held ministerial positions while the official view is articulated by loyalists acting on the diktat of the party high command.

It started with Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor commenting in Panama that a change in India’s response to cross-border terrorism sponsored by Pakistan began with the 2016 surgical strikes which marked a first. Party loyalists took umbrage and argued that surgical strikes had been carried out previously to 2016 and Tharoor had needlessly endorsed a Bharatiya Janata Party claim.

The protestors were economical with truth. The cross-border actions prior to 2016 were essentially shallow incursions, often in retaliation to the brutal actions of Pakistani border action teams (BAT) such as beheadings of Indian soldiers. BAT units are a mix of regular Pakistan troops and terrorists. As the Pahalgam atrocity showed, where at least two assailants are said to be Pakistan commandos, the difference is not much.

Before the 2016 cross border strikes on terror launch pads, the Indian army did not officially acknowledge any such action. The raids carried out in retaliation of the terrorist attack on an Army camp at Uri that killed 19, were announced by then director-general military operations Lt Gen Ranbir Singh and he later confirmed – in response to a right to information query – this was the first such instance. The scale and depth of the 2016 surgical strikes had no precedent and Congress’s claims appeared more a bid to undercut the Modi government.

Speaking to think tanks in Indonesia, former minister Salman Khurshid said the prolonged application of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir fostered a feeling of separateness. “Kashmir had a major problem for a long time. Much of that was reflected in the thinking of the government in an article called 370 of the Constitution… But Article 370 was abrogated and it was finally put to an end,” he said.

Khurshid’s remarks annoyed the official faction of his party which read it, as in the case of Tharoor’s comments, as an endorsement of the Modi government’s decisions. Irked by criticism aimed at him, Khurshid hit back at his critics. “No matter which party you are from, today what is needed is a single voice to speak in favour of the nation and that is what we are doing here. I think when I say is it so difficult to be a patriot? …that is the question that has to be asked of those who are putting out tweets and saying things that I think I believe are not very encouraging when you want to do something for the nation,” Khurshid said. He added differences in opinion can be settled at home.

Speaking to the Indian community in Ethiopia, Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari said when it comes to India’s self-respect, all should rise above party lines. He endorsed Operation Sindoor, saying that India’s response to Pakistan sponsored terrorism has been so far very calculated but if the neighbour did not change its ways, it will be very aggressive. This is in sync with the Modi government’s message to Pakistan. Its amplification by an all-party delegation strongly conveys political unity on Pakistan and terrorism.

At the same function, former minister and senior Congress leader Anand Sharma struck a similar note and said “It is an ancient culture of centuries that we do not attack any country, but we gave the attackers a befitting reply. Our army fought back strongly this time too; they targeted only the terrorist organisations.”

Congress’s tendency to oppose all actions of the Modi government has become more pronounced under the influence of Rahul Gandhi, but the trend is not new. After the Vajpayee government successfully conducted the Pokhran II nuclear tests in May 1998, Congress under Sonia Gandhi congratulated scientists but criticised the government. It has taken a similar position now and not long after the conclusion of the May 7-10 hostilities, began to raise doubts over the entire operation with Rahul accusing foreign minister S Jaishankar of tipping off Pakistan about the attacks.

Following Chief of Defence Staff Lt Gen Anil Chauhan’s remarks to foreign news agencies accepting India lost jets in the early stages of Operation Sindoor, Congress called for a special session of Parliament. “Congress party demands a Comprehensive Review of our Defence Preparedness by an independent expert committee, on the lines of the Kargil Review Committee,” said party president Mallikarjun Kharge on X. It echoed Rahul’s earlier suggestion that Jaishankar actions might have resulted in loss of aircraft.

The intelligence failure that led to the Pahalgam terrorist attack, the subsequent tactics of the Indian armed forces, losses suffered and hits scored in the operations that followed are all legitimate subjects of discussion. Nothing less can be expected in a democracy. But in consistently questioning India’s military actions and demanding proof, the Congress brass is at odds with several senior leaders. Earlier, the dichotomy was not evident. Now it is out in the open.

CongressdiplomacyNarendra ModiOperation SindoorOutreachPahalgamShashi Tharoor