July 29, 2025
Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee’s speech during Special Discussion on Operation Sindoor
*“Mr. Vice-Chairman, Sir, on behalf of my party, the All India Trinamool Congress, I rise to take part in this special discussion. First of all, I pay homage to the 26 innocent Indians who lost their lives in the terrorist attack at Pahalgam. Among them were three of our people from Bengal: Bitaan Adhikari, Sameer Guha, and Manish Mishra. I pay tribute to their everlasting memory. I also pay tribute to the indelible memory of the brave soldiers of our country’s armed forces who fought in the line of duty and were martyred. And in the entire Pahalgam incident, the first martyr from our armed forces was Havildar Jhontu Ali Sheikh, a resident of Nadia, Bengal. I pay homage to the memory of Havildar Jhontu Ali Sheikh. Now, Sir, when this discussion is taking place today, I, on behalf of the All India Trinamool Congress, humbly ask: why did the Government not call a special Session? It is not that in the past, during incidents like this, special Sessions have never been called. Yesterday, the discussion started in the other House. Today, the discussion has started in our House. We are hearing repeatedly that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is being dragged into this and blamed. I only wish to mention that on 23rd October 1962, when the India-China war was underway, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Hem Barua went to Pandit Nehru. They were few in number, not many; they did not have numerical strength. Pandit Nehru was requested on 23rd October 1962 to convene a special Session, and he called a special Session on 8th November 1962 during the India-China war. Nehru had made mistakes—this mistake too could have been acknowledged by the Government, and the special Session could have been convened! If a special Session had been called, a discussion could have taken place here. Now, our question is: why did the discussion not begin on the first day itself? Was it because the hon. Prime Minister, the great globetrotter, was abroad on a foreign visit that the Government did not agree to a discussion from the first day? From 2022 to 2025, the hon. Prime Minister of our country has travelled three lakh kilometres in total, within the country and abroad. The distance from Earth to the Moon is 3.8 lakh kilometres. He has already surpassed that distance in three years. But he still has not been able to reach Manipur, which is just 2,000 kilometres away. We believe the Prime Minister will speak in this House tomorrow. And we most humbly request that when the discussion takes place tomorrow, the Government should also tell us when we will discuss the matter of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Parliament. Now the question arises: Those who infiltrated 200 kilometres inside the Line of Control and killed innocent people, then retreated 200 kilometres—who will take responsibility for this massive breach of national security? If there was an intelligence failure, then how did the Chief of the Intelligence Bureau get a one-year extension just a month after the attack? Instead of holding him accountable, was he rewarded? Under what compulsion? These are uncanny questions. Our All India General Secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, has already raised these questions. Particularly, we want to know: the Pegasus spyware, which the Government has skillfully used to spy on political leaders, journalists, and even judges—why has it not been used on terror networks and suspects? If Pegasus had been used, we would know where the terrorists are now. Those four whose photos were published—those four responsible for the heinous killings—are they dead or alive? Did they escape after travelling 200 kilometres? Why is the government not issuing a clear statement? Why this deafening silence? Our party, the All India Trinamool Congress, under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, has repeatedly said that when it comes to matters of foreign policy, we always stand with the Central Government. The entire nation of 140 crore people rises above religion, caste, and political identity to stand with the government. But then, when will we be able to reclaim Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)? Today, the hon. Defence Minister, in his speech, said there is a ceasefire. The operation has not ended; it could be resumed. But the question is: if the operation is resumed, and then President Trump of the United States says a ceasefire must be implemented for trade reasons, what will the Government do? This is the question of 140 crore Indians. Why has PoK not been taken back? What compromise has been made? The people of the country want to know. After Pahalgam, the Government’s outreach programme has reached 33 countries. Who decided who would go? Our party felt the Government should not decide this. We will decide who will represent our party. Accordingly, our All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee represented us. The second largest opposition party had no leader in this entire delegation. They went. The third largest opposition party also had no leader. The Samajwadi Party went. We want this matter raised in the House. The hon. Prime Minister has been called the globe-trotter, the Vishwaguru, the Prime Minister of the world’s fourth largest economy. Yet we must point out: the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave Pakistan one billion US dollars. The World Bank gave Pakistan 40 billion US dollars in economic aid and long-term investments. A country that is consistently involved in cross-border terrorism—will it keep getting rewarded by avoiding international scrutiny? Within a month of the Pahalgam incident, Pakistan became the Vice-Chairman of the Counter Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council, even though two lakh crore rupees have been spent on our Ministry of External Affairs in the last 10 years. I have mentioned Havildar Jhontu Ali Sheikh, Sir. When his mortal remains returned to Tehatta in Nadia, thousands of people from the surrounding villages came to pay their respects on Saturday, 26 April 2025. Our party was there, as were other political parties—except one. You don’t need to be a quizmaster to guess which party didn’t go. No eader from the BJP’s state unit went to pay respect to Jhontu Ali Sheikh that day. Now, Sir, Nadia district has a place called Plassey. In 1757, when the fall of Siraj-ud-Daulah, the last Nawab of independent Bengal, was taking place, when the merchant’s scales turned into the ruler’s sceptre, a conspiracy was hatched against Siraj. That conspiracy was led by Mir Jafar, born into a Muslim household, but he was not alone. Along with Mir Jafar were Jagat Seth, Rai Durlabh, and Omichand, all born into Hindu households. Siraj was defeated in the mango groves of Plassey. But Bengal’s soil had witnessed and proclaimed: who shed blood for Siraj? For Siraj, blood was shed by Mir Madan, born into a Muslim household, and Mohanlal, born into a Hindu Brahmin household. This is history. You cannot erase it. A hundred years later, in 1857, the First War of Independence—the great revolt—took place. In Barrackpore, Bengal, Mangal Pandey and Ishwar Pandey were martyred. The British dismantled the Bengal Regiment. To this day, there is no Bengal Regiment in our armed forces. Our blood bears the history of sacrifice— from revolutionary Rashbehari Bose to Deshnayak Subhas Chandra Bose. Of the 585 revolutionaries incarcerated in the Cellular Jail in the Andamans, 398 were Bengalis from undivided Bengal. Our leader Mamata Banerjee, after this incident, directed that from the hills to the sea, we must march with the national flag to honour the armed forces. We did so, Sir. But I was speaking of Havildar Jhontu Ali Sheikh. It would be unjust not to mention another Havildar—Kazi Nazrul Islam.Kazi Nazrul Islam was a Havildar in the British Indian Regiment. He wrote a poem called Bidrohi—“The Rebel”—long before any organisation of that name was formed. Even today, questions arise: despite everyone supporting the reclaiming of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, why have we not been able to capture it? I want to end by reciting a few lines Nazrul wrote in that poem: “I am the flute in Krishna’s hands, I rise in anger, I will break through the heavens and the seven hells will tremble, I am the rebel, I will smash the tyrant’s sword, I am the creator, I am forever the unconquered rebel, I stand tall, Jai Hind! Jai Bangla!”
