Congress demands answers for halting Operation Sindoor and 'abrupt' ceasefire
Congress demands answers for halting Operation Sindoor and 'abrupt' ceasefire
M.U.H
29/05/202529
Over 1.75 lakh posts remain vacant in the Indian armed forces, including 25,000 officer-level vacancies. India has 45–48 sanctioned Air Force squadrons, but only 24 are functional. How can we ensure operational efficiency with half our airpower grounded? -- asked AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, who also demanded answers from the Modi government on the critical defence issues.
Surjewala was speaking at the 'Jai Hind Sabha', organised by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) in honour of the armed forces in Bengaluru on Wednesday, where senior Congress leaders while reaffirming their support for the armed forces demanded answers from the Centre on critical defence issues, Operation Sindoor, the ceasefire, and the Indian foreign policy.
Surjewala cautioned that respect for the armed forces must go beyond symbolic gestures. “While we salute our jawans, we must ask ourselves: are we truly standing by them? Are we giving them what they need to win wars and safeguard our sovereignty?” he asked, pointing to large-scale vacancies in the defence forces.
Turning the spotlight on the Modi government's 'failure' to constitute the Mountain Strike Corps sanctioned by the Manmohan Singh government and to fully implement the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme, a long-standing demand of ex-servicemen, Surjewala said, "If there is no money for our soldiers’ pensions, then where is the money going?”.
Surjewala saluted the courage and sacrifice of India’s military personnel, saying that every Indian was proud of the army, which, from 1965 to Kargil and now Operation Sindoor, had consistently protected the country’s honour. He raised serious concerns about the ceasefire declared during Operation Sindoor. “Our forces had brought Pakistan to its knees. Why was the ceasefire announced by the American President and not the Indian government? What were the terms of this ceasefire? Would terror masterminds like Masood Azhar or Dawood Ibrahim be handed over by Pakistan? Will Pakistan be destroying its terror camps now? The nation deserves answers.”
Surjewala added that the Modi government must explain its silence, noting that US President Donald Trump had tweeted about the ceasefire at 5:35 pm, followed by Pakistan’s confirmation at 5.38 pm — while India responded nearly 25 minutes later. “Ceasefires are conditional. Indira Gandhi made Pakistan sign the Shimla Agreement before halting hostilities. What did we get this time?”
He also called for the creation of a dedicated drone battalion and increased investment in modern warfare tools, including robotics and AI, warning of growing threats including two-front war scenarios with China and Pakistan.
AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal stressed that the Congress had stood by the nation post the Pahalgam terror attack and had even demanded a special session of Parliament to show unity. “We did not want to play politics. But the Modi government’s silence and inaction has left critical questions unanswered.”
Venugopal expressed deep concern over a reported intelligence failure in the Pahalgam incident, noting that a CRPF personnel had been arrested for leaking information to Pakistan. “Why did the intelligence failure happen in the Pahalgam incident? Yesterday, we got shocking information that a CRPF personnel had been arrested by the NIA for leaking information to Pakistan in the Pahalgam incident. The families of terror victims deserve justice. Terrorists who killed our 26 civilians have not been caught. So, where are the terrorists? We are not war-mongering but want to ask the Modi government why it abruptly halted the retaliatory action against Pakistan without giving any explanation to the nation. Why did the ceasefire happen suddenly?"
Alleging that foreign policy decisions were being influenced by foreign powers, Venugopal said, "The US Secretary of State equated India and Pakistan. We never accepted third-party intervention in Kashmir. The PM's silence indicates that our foreign policy is no longer sovereign and is dictated from Washington and not from Delhi. Our government has to clarify why the US has been repeatedly saying it,” added Venugopal.
