Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has strongly criticised the government’s response to the Pahalgam attack and the subsequent Operation Sindoor, saying the armed forces were not given full freedom to act and were sent in with their “hands tied behind their backs.”
Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the debate on Operation Sindoor, Gandhi said that while the opposition stood united with the armed forces and supported the government after the April 22 attack that killed 26 people, the Centre lacked the political will to fight Pakistan properly.
“There’s no shortage of bravery in our forces. But to use the Army, Navy, and Air Force properly, two things are needed — political will and the freedom for them to carry out operations. Sadly, this government gave neither,” said Gandhi.
He criticised Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for comparing Operation Sindoor to the 1971 India-Pakistan war. “In 1971, there was strong political leadership. The US sent its 7th Fleet into the Indian Ocean. But Indira Gandhi said, ‘We’ll do what we have to do in Bangladesh.’ That’s real political will,” he said, adding that the then Army Chief, Sam Manekshaw, was given the time and space to plan freely, which led to the creation of Bangladesh and the surrender of over one lakh Pakistani soldiers.
Gandhi accused the government of acting in haste and seeking a ceasefire too quickly during Operation Sindoor. “The Defence Minister said Operation Sindoor started at 1:05 am and within 22 minutes, by 1:35 am, we told Pakistan we didn’t want escalation. You told them we hit non-military targets. Why did we go in if we were not ready to act fully?” he asked.
He also cited remarks from India’s defence attaché in Indonesia, who reportedly said Indian aircraft were lost because they were told not to target Pakistani military infrastructure or air defence systems. “This meant our pilots were asked to go in without hitting their air defences. Naturally, our planes would be at risk. This wasn’t a mistake by the Air Force. The mistake was political,” he said.
On the international front, Gandhi raised concerns about repeated claims by US President Donald Trump that he had brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after the attack. “Trump said it 29 times. If he’s lying, why hasn’t Prime Minister Modi said so clearly?” Gandhi asked.
He also questioned the government’s claim that the world condemned Pakistan. “No country blamed Pakistan directly. They only condemned terrorism in general. And yet, Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir was having lunch with Trump just days later. Trump even thanked him for helping end the conflict,” he said.
Taking a dig at the government’s statements that “every act of terror is an act of war,” Gandhi warned that this gives power to terrorists. “It means any terrorist can start a war just by carrying out an attack. That’s not deterrence, that’s confusion. The government does not understand how to deter enemies,” he said.
Ending his speech, Gandhi said the opposition had supported the government out of respect for the armed forces, but “the people of India must know that the problem wasn’t with our soldiers — it was with the political leadership that failed to back them properly.”
