Ex-Indian minister slams Modi over Pahalgam: ‘Don’t blame Pakistan without proof’

NEW DELHI: Former Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram has said that there is no evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in the Pahalgam terrorist attack; the attackers were Indian nationals.

Chidambaram, who is a member of the opposition Congress, questioned the Modi government “Why does the Indian government assume that the attackers came from Pakistan? Has the government identified them as Pakistanis?”

Congress leader P Chidambaram triggered a massive political controversy with his comment in an interview, in which he said “homegrown terrorists” could be involved in the Pahalgam terror attack. He also said that “there is no evidence” so far that the killers came from Pakistan.

Chidambaram in an interview with The Quint said, “Have they identified the terrorists? Where they came from? I mean, for all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists. Why do you assume that they came from Pakistan? There’s no evidence of that.”

Chidambaram also questioned BJP government’s ‘silence’ on the issue. “And why is the Prime Minister not speaking on Operation Sindoor? Why do you think there’s a reluctance to have a debate in the temple of democracy? That’s what Parliament is. After all, Prime Minister Modi has addressed the nation. He’s addressed various rallies,” he said.

Reacting sharply to his remarks, BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya posted on ‘X’ that ‘Congress rushes to give a clean chit to Pakistan’. “Why is it that every time our forces confront Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, Congress leaders sound more like Islamabad’s defence lawyers than India’s opposition?’ Malviya asked. As row erupted over his remark, Chidambaram in a post on X said, “The worst kind is a troll who suppresses the full recorded interview, takes two sentences, mutes some words, and paints the speaker in a black colour!”