Leaders stray from Congress’s calculated Pahalgam line, land party in familiar dilemma

In the wake of the Pathankot and Uri attacks in 2016, as also the Pulwama attack in 2019, in comparison, the Congress had aggressively targeted the government, talking about failures, and argued that ministers concerned could not shrug off responsibility and accountability.

But then came the remark by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, saying a war should be avoided, even as his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy urged the government to push ahead and take over Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. On Monday, noting that the Indus waters were a lifeline for Pakistan, long-time Congress leader from Kashmir Saifuddin Soz said that India should take Pakistan’s word that it was not involved in the attack.

As the BJP pounced on the statements, the Congress was back facing its eternal dilemma. It cannot appear not to back a strong counter-response to Pakistan by the government, but not come across as war mongering. It has to be seen backing the government at a time of crisis but must also pinpoint security and intelligence failures to make a political point.

In a damage control exercise, Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh posted Monday that the party had made its stand clear at the CWC meeting as well as at the all-party meeting called by the government. Still, he added, “some Congress leaders have been speaking to the media”. “They speak for themselves and do not reflect the INC’s views. There should be absolutely no doubt whatsoever at this most sensitive of times that the CWC resolution, the views expressed by Shri Mallikarjun Kharge and Shri Rahul Gandhi (at the all-party meeting) and the views of authorised AICC office-bearers ALONE represent the position of the INC,” Ramesh said.

With public opinion hardening against the neighbouring country after the Pahalgam attack, the wariness of the Congress – often accused of being “soft” on terror and Pakistan by the BJP – is understandable. Earlier, after the Congress had questioned the government over the Uri attack, party leaders such as Digvijaya Singh had gone on to raise doubts regarding the surgical strikes carried out by the Modi government in response.

The BJP had accused the Congress of not stopping at “insulting” the armed forces, blinded by its “hate” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

With another string of Assembly elections beginning at the end of this year, the party this time was cautious. The CWC resolution made the point about lapses but after noting the difficulties of the task at hand and without pointing fingers at anyone. “Pahalgam is known to be a heavily guarded area, secured by a three-tier security arrangement. It is imperative that a comprehensive analysis is conducted into the intelligence failures and security lapses that enabled such an attack in a Union Territory – an area directly under the purview of the Union Home Ministry. These questions must be raised in the larger public interest. This is the only way justice can truly be seen to be served…,” the resolution said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to skip the all-party meeting on the Pahalgam attack, as he travelled to Assembly election-bound Bihar to inaugurate government programmes, was remarked upon by the Congress too. But it was not made an issue by the party, with both Kharge and Gandhi attending the meeting.

However, this carefully crafted narrative is now slipping. In his statements on the attack, Siddaramaiah first said: “It is not necessary to wage a war on Pakistan… We are not in favour of war. To ensure peace in Kashmir, security should be strengthened.” His Cabinet colleague R B Timmapur added to this saying he did not think terrorists had asked for the religion of victims before shooting them.

On Monday, the Karnataka CM claimed he had been misquoted and what he wanted to say was that “no one is in favour of war”. A senior Congress leader said that while what Siddaramaiah said may have been right, “This is not the time to say all that.” On why Siddaramiah made the remarks, the leader replied cryptically: “Old habits die hard.”

Soz said Pakistan’s “word” should be accepted that “it was not involved in Pahalgam”. “It can be a situation that gunmen, terrorists… they sometimes go berserk… So if Pakistan takes a position that it is not involved in the Pahalgam tragedy, my feeling is that let us accept Pakistan’s word,” he told PTI.

On the other end of the spectrum, Revanth Reddy was quoted as hailing the role of the Indira Gandhi government in the splitting of Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh, and advising the government: “Merge PoK with India. We will stand with you.”

Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, a former diplomat, was seen from within own ranks as being too soft on the government for noting that “there is no foolproof intelligence”, giving the example of the Hamas attack on Israel. While there may be some security failures, the priority right now should be a credible response, Tharoor said, adding: “Pakistanis have to understand that they cannot kill Indians with impunity… Blood is going to flow, possibly more on their side.”

Tharoor’s Congress colleague and former MP Udit Raj said Tharoor should not forget that Modi had attacked the UPA government after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai for its “failures”. “The Congress is not in power, yet the BJP keeps criticising (it)… They say that under the Congress, terrorists used to kill and escape. So shouldn’t you ask how they killed and escaped in Uri, Pathankot, Pulwama and Pahalgam? When the BJP government itself admitted security lapses, then brother Tharoor ji, how did you become their lawyer and give a clean chit?” Udit Raj said.