Pak Rifles, Chocolates: Amit Shah Steers Op Sindoor Debate With Op Mahadev’s Success – Pahalgam Terrorists Killed!

A little over 3 months later, the security forces have avenged the killing of 26 innocent people in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday (July 29) confirmed that the 3 terrorists killed in Monday’s Operation Mahadev were indeed involved in the Pahalgam attack.

With this, he asserted that they have irrefutable proof that the terrorists killed in the operation were from Pakistan. Shah shared that Suleiman Shah was the mastermind, and the 2 others killed were Afghan and Jibran. All 3 of them belonged to the Pak-based proscribed group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

“They were shown the bodies, and they said ‘these are the men involved in the Pahalgam attack,” Shah added.

Pahalgam mastermind killed in Operation Mahadev: What proofs Shah provided?

The home minister underlined that the government had concrete evidence, including Pakistani voter ID numbers, rifles, cartridges, and even Pakistan-made chocolates, to determine the terrorists killed in Operation Mahadev were the April 22 Pahalgam terror attackers linked to Pakistan.

“We have their voter ID numbers, and the rifles and cartridges used were made in Pakistan. The former Home Minister of this country is giving Pakistan a clean chit in front of the entire world,” said the union home minister.

Shah added that the identities of the slain terrorists were confirmed by those who had already been arrested by the NIA for having sheltered them. “They were shown the bodies, and they said ‘these are the men involved in the Pahalgam attack.”

Not convinced by that alone, Shah informed, that they also carried out forensic tests of the bullet shells found at the attack spot. “We took the guns seized from the terrorists killed in Operation Mahadev to the lab in Chandigarh overnight, where the ammunition matched. That confirmed their identities even further.”

What is the “homegrown terrorists” debate?

A controversy erupted after Congress leader P Chidambaram’s recent statements in an interview, wherein he raised questions on the government’s claims linking Pakistan to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. “Have they identified the terrorists? Where they came from? I mean, for all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists,” he stated.

Responding to his remarks, the home minister listed the proofs they found to link the Pahalgam attack terrorists to Pakistan, accusing the former home minister of giving a “clean chit” to Pakistan. “The former Home Minister of this country is giving Pakistan a clean chit in front of the entire world,” Shah said in Lok Sabha.

Operation Sindoor debate in Parliament: How it started, what happened?

During the ongoing monsoon session of the Parliament, a rather fiery exchange of words took place between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi over the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. Gogoi on Monday attacked the ruling BJP, asking how many Rafale jets were shot down during Operation Sindoor.

“There are just 35 Rafale jets in India, and if some of them have been downed, I think it is a big loss,” Gogoi said after Rajnath Singh initiated the 16-hour-long discussion. For the uninitiated, the Congress leader’s remark was in reference to CDS General Anil Chauhan, who earlier in an interview said that India suffered initial losses in the air.

How Rajnath Singh responded to Gogoi’s comments?

Giving a sharp rejoined, the defence minister stressed that Operation Sindoor was only “paused” and the military action will resume if Pakistan indulged in any fresh misadventure. He went on to add that India can go to any extent to uproot terrorism.

“Today, dossiers have been replaced by decisive action. Today’s India thinks differently and acts differently. We believe that if the adversary uses terrorism as part of strategy and does not understand the language of peace, then standing firm and being decisive is the only option,” Singh asserted.

Why PM Modi praised Dr S Jaishankar’s Lok Sabha speech?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi seemed impressed by External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar’s Parliament speech on Lok Sabha on Monday, in which he replied to questions about foreign support during Operation Sindoor. He said the Quad had given a statement saying it “unequivocally condemns all acts of terrorism or violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism.”

With this, Jaishankar further added that BRICS “also condemned the attack, reaffirmed its commitment to combating terrorism.”

Suggesting that India’s foreign policy has united the world and praising Jaishankar’s Parliament speech, PM Modi wrote, “The speech by EAM Dr. Jaishankar Ji was outstanding. He highlighted how the world has clearly heard India’s perspective on fighting the menace of terrorism through Operation Sindoor.”