The government and the Opposition sparred in the Lok Sabha on Monday during the debate on Operation Sindoor.
Initiating the debate, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made many references to Indian legends to explain India's military action against Pakistan, while the Opposition targeted the government on "security lapses" that led to the Pahalgam attack, asking Home Minister Amit Shah to take responsibility for it and also demanded answers on the number of Indian jets that were allegedly downed during Operation Sindoor.
The parliamentary skirmish is expected to continue tomorrow as well, with Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi expected to make their interventions.
Here's a quick look at who spoke in the Lok Sabha on the first day of the Operation Sindoor debate.
Videos: Courtesy, ANI
We have learnt from Lord Krishna that when the time comes, one must pick up the Sudarshan Chakra to defend dharma. After the 2006 Parliament attack and 2008 Mumbai attacks, we said 'enough is enough' and picked the Sudarshan Chakra, the Raksha Mantri said to thunderous applause from the treasury benches.
Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha the military operation was an effective and well-coordinated strike against nine terror sites. Seven terror camps were fully destroyed and India has proof of the damage incurred inside PoK and Pakistan, Singh told the House.
If Pakistan indulges in fresh misadventure, it will resume again, the defence minister cautioned.
We once spoke the language of the Lahore bus journey, but Pakistan did not understand that. We now respond with the Balakot strike, Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha, citing the historic Lahore bus journey undertaken by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999. However, India's peaceful outreach was misunderstood as weakness, Singh said.
Before executing Operation Sindoor, our forces studied every aspect and chose the option that would cause maximum damage to terrorists, while ensuring no harm to innocent civilians, Singh told the Lok Sabha.
The entire operation was over in 22 minutes and the Pahalgam killings were "avenged". If Pakistan indulges in a fresh misadventure, it will resume again, the minister said in his opening remarks on the special debate on Pahalgam terror strikes and Operation Sindoor in the lower house.
Pakistan initially rejected our rationale of specific targeting of terror outfits during Operation Sindoor and sought to escalate the situation targeting India's civil and military places, thus violating the ceasefire, the defence minister said.
He said Pakistan used missiles, drones, rockets, including long-range rockets, among others, to target airports, military establishments and military cantonments.
"However, they failed to cause any damage to any establishment."
"In any exam, results matter, not whether the pencil was broken or the pen lost. Ultimately, results matter," Singh said, responding to opposition criticism.
Participating in a special discussion in the Lok Sabha on 'India's strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam', Congress's deputy leader in the House Gaurav Gogoi said according to the government, its intention was not to occupy territory. He asked the government why was it not so as "if not today, then when will we take Pakistan-occupied Kashmir back"?
The Congress leader said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been saying since the Uri and Pulwama attacks that "humne ghar mein ghus ke maara", "we destroyed terror infrastructure" and is making the same remarks even now.
"They are still saying that Operation Sindoor is incomplete and Pakistan can do this again. Then how is this a success? They themselves are saying that our intention was not of war. Why was it not so? They say it was not to take territory. Why was it not so? When will we take Pakistan-occupied Kashmir back? If not today, then when?... " Gogoi said.
He said the opposition wants to know from Modi that if Pakistan was ready to kneel before India, "Why did you stop and before whom did you surrender?"
Gogoi asked Defence Minister Rajnath Singh why did he not name China during his address in the Lok Sabha and said he must disclose how much support that country was providing to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.
Referring to Singh's speech, Gogoi said he gave a lot of information, but did not say how the terrorists came to Pahalgam.
"The country wants to know ... 100 days have passed, but this government has not brought the terrorists to justice," he said.
The home minister kept saying that the backbone of terrorism has been broken, but the Uri, Balakot and Pahalgam incidents still happened, he said.
"Who will take responsibility, the (Jammu and Kashmir) LG? It is the home minister who must take responsibility. You cannot hide behind the LG. This government is such a coward and is so weak that it blamed even tour operators for the Pahalgam attack," the Congress leader said.
Unfortunately for Gogoi, soon after his speech it was announced in Kashmir that the mastermind behind the Pahalgam terror attack, Suleiman alias Asif, had been killed in Operation Mahadev launched by the security forces in Srinagar's outskirts.
The major highlight of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's nearly 40-minute address in the Lok Saha was his articulation of the new normal in combating cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
"The challenge of cross-border terrorism continues but Operation Sindoor marks a new phase. There is now a new normal. The new normal has five points," Jaishankar said.
Explaining the new normal, he added, "One -- terrorists will not be treated as proxies; two -- cross-border terrorism will get an appropriate response; three -- terror and talks are not possible together and there will only be talks on terror; four -- not yielding to nuclear blackmail; and finally -- terror and good neighbourliness cannot co-exist, blood and water cannot flow together. This is our position."
BJP leader and Kendrapara (Odisha) MP Baijayant 'Jay' Panda told the Lok Sabha said that Operation Sindoor was an attack on terrorists in Pakistan, and not on civilians.
"This is not a reaction, this is Modi's doctrine, which Pakistan has understood. This is a new normal," he said, adding that it is shameful that the opposition only questions Indian armed forces and not Pakistan.
Panda also did not miss the opportunity to take digs at the Congress party, saying, "There are several leaders in your (Congress) party who can speak well... My friend Shashi Tharoor Ji, who is a good speaker, is not allowed to speak by his party."
The Congress subsequently clarified that it had asked Tharoor if he would like to speak during the debate but that he declined to do so.
Taking on the government for halting Operation Sindoor at a time when India's security forces had an edge, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee questioned the announcement of "ceasefire" and likened it to a player "declaring the innings" on the brink of scoring a century.
"... Have you ever heard that a player batting at 90 and heading towards a century, declare the innings. Only Modiji can do this, no one else... It was a matter of completing 100 runs, ended up being out at 90," he said.
He also asked why PM Modi did not "counter" US President Donald Trump "even once" on his claims made in a social media post on the role of the US in reaching the ceasefire.
In a dig at the prime minister, the TMC MP said that in front of the US president, Modi's stature "gets reduced" and his "chest shrinks from 56 to 36 inches".
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