July 28, 2025
Kalyan Banerjee’s speech during the Special Discussion on Operation Sindoor, staged in response to the Pahalgam attack
Honourable Chairperson Madam, on behalf of my party- All India Trinamool Congress, I would like to first pay my respect and salute to all our armed forces personnel, soldiers from the Army, Air Force, and Navy. From May 7 to May 10, we pay our respect and bow to all BSF, CISF, and other soldiers who were martyred during Operation Sindoor. Indian missile attacks aimed at destroying the terrorist infrastructure of the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba groups in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Madam, I also pay my respect to Hawaldar Jhantu Ali Sheikh, whose home is in Krishnanagar, who died in a terrorist encounter in Udhampur on April 23. If our soldiers had not fought with all their might for those four days, Operation Sindoor would never have been successful. All the credit for this operation goes to our three brave armed forces. This credit cannot be shared with anyone else.
The credit goes to the soldiers of our country. The credit cannot be divided. No one can take away the credit except for the soldiers.
If we go back a little, we will see that on April 22nd, 26 Indians were killed in an attack by four terrorists, armed extremists in Pahalgram, Jammu and Kashmir. It has deeply saddened all their families, local residents, and the entire nation. Out of those 26, 3 were from our state-Bitan Adhikari from Patuli, Kolkata, Sameer Guha, Behala, Kolkata, Manush Ranjan Mishra from Jhalda, Purulia. The surprising thing is-how did these terrorists manage to enter that day? How did four terrorists kill 26 people and then escaped? Then what was our BSF doing, what was our CISF doing? Don’t we have them? What was our Hon’ble Home Minister Amit Shah doing? The entire department was stunned. Today, 26 people have lost their lives due to their negligence and the negligence of BSF and CISF. And 4 terrorists walked back to Pakistan, and our BSF, KSF jawans sat and watched in silence. Amit Shahji has left, Nityanandaji is still sitting.
Madam, who will take responsibility for the absence of the soldiers? The Prime Minister and the Home Minister will have to take responsibility for this. Please apologize to the 140 crore people of India with folded hands, and acknowledge that 26 people died due to your negligence. You cannot even catch one terrorist, yet you claim to have killed 100 terrorists. Where did those four terrorists go? Tell me their names. You think, only delivering speeches is enough? What was our Intelligence Department doing during those days?
What are we doing? What logic is that?
*(You have practically branded them. What was the intelligence department doing? It was certainly a failure. Why is that person still retained? He has failed as an intelligence officer. The Indian Army carried out air strikes on nine militant hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir late at night on May 6, conducting operations in various places including Balakot, Muzaffarabad, and Sialkot. No Pakistani military personnel or civilians, or people in general, were harmed in these attacks by India.
I accept this statement which has been made by our hon. Defence Minister. I take it at its face value.
No civilian was targeted during the attack and no civilian was injured. Pakistan did not report any civilian deaths. Our best wishes and respect go to the Indian Army. India’s actions in Operation Sindoor were very precise and restrained.. However, Pakistan also inflicted damage on our civilian areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab. People have seen that damage. Incidentally, a few days later, I went to Jammu. Even 100–150km away from Jammu, people were still in the grip of terror. This cannot be denied. What is truth, should be accepted. Pakistan claims that during the military standoff, they shot down six Indian Air Force fighter jets, but I have not seen any proof of this yet. Let me be very clear. We, the All India Trinamool Congress, have always supported the India government’s foreign policy decisions. However, if you have shortcomings or make mistakes, we will definitely point them out. 140 crore Indians were waiting from May 7 to May 10. We are getting one news after another. It is heard that they are blowing them up. And 140 crore Indians of the whole India are saying, “come on. do it. blow them up. This is the best chance. Beat Pakistan.” On the 10th, I was at the Calcutta High Court for some cases and was busy all day. Occasionally, I would check the news. I was excited, thinking, ‘Go on, strike back at Pakistan. This is the time.’ We are all with the Prime Minister. Everyone is eagerly waiting that we will snatch Pakistan occupied Kashmir from Pakistan by today. Suddenly, at 3:30, I heard there was a ceasefire. What is this! It is like someone scoring 90 runs, standing on the verge of a century, declaring the innings, and saying, ‘I won’t play anymore”. He is retreating.
कभी सुना है, सेंचुरी के नाम पर एक्सरा रन? 90 रन हो गए, कोई बोलेगा वक इवनांग्स वडक्लेयर हो गई? आपने कभी सुना है? एक मोदी जी ही कर सकते हैं और कोई नहीं कर सकता है? मोदी जी आप कृपा करके कभी वक्रकेट के मैच में मत घुवसयेगा, तब तो देश का पूरा चला जाएगा। 100 रन होने की बात थी, 90 रन हो गए।
Our heads bowed in shame. We still don’t know what was going on. At 3:30 PM, Donald Trump posted on X:
“After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire. Congratulations to both countries on using common sense and great intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Can there be anything more shameful than this? The President of America is deciding for us? Where I, as an opposition member, am saying, we are with you. You have full support. We will fight by your side. 140 crore Indians are saying that you should fight. Did you stop the war after listening to the President of America? Later, statements were made here and there. That, it was not done on the advice of the President of America. We did it after a mutual discussion and agreement. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Sir, why didn’t you post on X once?
Why even once have you not posted on your ‘X’ handle saying that, ‘No, you are incorrect, Mr. American President. What you have said is incorrect.’? You could not show your courage to do that to that extent. When all the people of India are with you, we consider the sudden declaration of ceasefire a grave mistake. We wanted to see a decisive result against terrorism. All 140 crore Indians mourned the sudden loss of those 26 lives.
“What have you done to my favourites? you have destroyed my home. Can I ever forget that in this life or after my death?
If I were someone from primitive violent humanity, I would raise your pyre in the same crematorium.”
You should have had this spirit. But you have stifled the desire of everyone. History will never forgive you.
“My voice is shut today, the flute has lost its music,
Who has destroyed my world under the nightmare of the new moon,
That is why I cleanse you with tears,
Those who poisoned your air, extinguished your light,
Have you forgiven them, have you loved them right?”
Today you need to answer us all. I am Bengali. I will speak in Bengali. You arrest me outside, I don’t care, but Rabindranath, Nazrul is in my heart. You started not only a symbol but also a political narrative by naming it Operation Sindoor. Before this, no organizational branding was seen during Uri in 2016 or Balakot in 2019.
It is nothing but that. We have seen a perfect example of the branding of the Prime Minister in the war with Pakistan.
After gaining independence in 1947, India has successfully overcome many critical military attacks including the wars of 1965, 1971, 1999. Even after the Mumbai attacks in 2008, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led team kept Pakistan under pressure at the international level. During the rule of Indira Gandhi, and under the military leadership of Field Marshal Manekshaw, India achieved complete dominance over Pakistan in 1971 and divided Pakistan into two. … (Expunged as ordered by the Chair) From 1979 to 2024, there were 66,872 record-breaking terrorist attacks worldwide. Where the number of deaths was 249,941. In the last 78 years since India became independent, there have been 12,813 terrorist attacks in this country where 20,909 people were killed and 31,452 injured. Only from July 2014 to July 2025, that is, during Narendra Modi’s tenure, there have been 4,276 terrorist attacks and the number of deaths was 8,163. In these 6 months of this year, 68 people have died in 22 incidents in Jammu and Kashmir. And in the last 10 years, 2,850 people have been killed in 1,392 attacks, of which ,632 were Indian soldiers. The Indian government’s own statistics show that retaliatory surgical strikes can never create lasting resistance. When Modiji was the Chief Minister of Gujarat during the UPA government, he demanded accountability from the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the terrorist attacks. Didn’t you demand accountability then? You did. So how do terrorists keep entering Indian territory despite the presence of border forces, intelligence, and tight central control? This was the question of the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Today, we have that question for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.)
How can the terrorists enter into the territory of India while there is Border Security Force, while there is CISF, while there is intelligence? This question was raised by Shri Narendra Modi, the then hon. Chief Minister, to the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. I am raising the same question today to Shri Narendra Modi during his regime as the hon. Prime Minister. Give the answer. You have to give the answer.
Just playing to the gallery while delivering speeches will not suffice. You have to work. Why were we 15 days late in going on this campaign? Another MP has already raised a question about this, so I don’t want to talk much about it. The interesting thing is that on April 22, apart from the incident across India, there were 9 more extremist/terrorist attacks across Punjab, Manipur and Telangana on that day. Even during the 4 days of the war, extremist attacks took place in 34 places in Assam, Manipur, South India, Rajasthan and Punjab. What steps did you take?)
What steps have you taken? You have not taken any steps.
However, long before government aid arrived in Pahalgam on April 22, the actions of Kashmiri Muslims were a remarkable example of humanity. It was Muslim residents who rescued and sheltered the victims that day. Those who shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’ did not help, but those who cried ‘Allahu Akbar’ did. They carried tourists to the hospital on their shoulders. A section of the country’s media and Sangh-supported cells were busy blaming those Kashmiri Muslims. Under this pretext, harassment and threats against Kashmiris increased across the country. Even BJP leaders forbade people from going to Kashmir. The opposition leader of our state, and your leader, said that none of you should go to Kashmir. I asked him to tell Modiji this first. Forbid Naddaji from going to Kashmir. What is the use of telling us? This is the culture of BJP. The biggest question is that there is a shadow of international pressure behind this operation. Modern warfare is no longer just about weapons, but also about information, stories and public opinion. In 2016, you gave one of the reasons for demonetisation as counter-terrorism. What was the benefit? One of the reasons you gave when you abrogated Article 370 in 2019 was to take final steps to counter terrorism. What was the benefit? What benefit did you bring? Demonetisation is for counter-terrorism, Article 370 was abrogated to counter-terrorism. What was the benefit, terrorism still remains? Do you know why it remains? Your failure. The failure was not due to Article 370, the failure is entirely yours. You cannot provide security, so the failure is yours. India closed the check posts while severing diplomatic relations with Pakistan as well.
He raised five questions. I will repeat those questions. These questions were raised on 16th June. The first question is this. It has been over 55 days since the Pahalgam terror attack. It is deeply concerning in a democracy that
neither the mainstream media, Members of the Opposition, nor the judiciary have stepped forward to raise these five crucial questions before the Government of India.
The first question is regarding border breach and civilian casualties.
How did four terrorists manage to infiltrate the border and launch an attack that killed 26 innocent civilians? Where is the accountability for this massive breach in national security?
My second question is regarding intelligence failure and the IB Chief … (Interruptions) If this was an intelligence failure, why was the Chief of Intelligence Bureau granted one-year extension? What is the status of the terrorists? Where are these four terrorists? You are making a gossip that a hundred terrorists have been killed. Where are these four terrorists? Give us the evidence. Ceasefire was compromised. Indians nicknamed Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir as PoJK. Why have the Government officials not responded to the US President’s claim that he has persuaded India and Pakistan to agree to a ceasefire with the promise of trade? It is global diplomacy and hypocrisy. After reaching out to 33 countries post Pahalgam in the last one month, how many extended explicit support to India? Give this answer. We need to hear this answer … (Interruptions)
We want to see you reclaiming back the Pakistan Occupied portion of Kashmir. We support you fully on this. As you had earlier wished, we have fully supported you since 22nd April. You fight, we are right behind you. 140 crore people are right behind you. In my speech, I didn’t raise questions on how many fighter jets you have lost. My only demand is to fight and I want to know why you came to an understanding for the ceasefire? Why, why ceasefire? Go and fight, we all are with you.
“Tired of the great rebel war, I will be at peace on that day,
When the cries of the oppressed will no longer echo in the sky and air-”
I want to make it clear to Pakistan from this ‘House’, you can’t hinder India’s progress with terrorism. These terrorists can’t stop the Indian citizens. India runs at its own pace. All our 140 crore citizens stand together with the country in this fight. You can’t break their morale. In the words of Rabindranath Tagore, I would like to send this message to Pakistan,
“In the last rays of the approaching evening
Stand at the door of that disgraced woman;
Say ‘forgive me’ –
Amidst the violent delirium
Let that be the last virtuous message of your civilization.”
