CPI M demands special session of parliament to discuss Pahalgam terror attack issue

    Hyderabad, May 14 (PTI) CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby on Wednesday demanded that the NDA government convene a special session of parliament to discuss the "unanswered questions" with regard to the Pahalgam terror attack, including whether there were any lapses in ensuring security of the tourists.
    Baby, who was in Hyderabad to attend the CPI(M) Telangana unit's meetings, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah had claimed on the floor of the house earlier that everything is under control in Jammu and Kashmir and that terrorism has been eradicated.
    "Now, this gruesome murder has happened (in Pahalgam). So, the Home Ministry owes a clarification to our country," he told PTI.
    Referring to US President Donald Trump's comments on his administration brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, Baby said the world came to know about the "ceasefire" not from India or Pakistan or both, but from Trump.
    Though the Ministry of External Affairs has stated that India accepted the offer of ceasefire that came from DGMO of Pakistan, the question of whether the US played any role in negotiating it remains unanswered, he said.
    "Therefore, we demand that a special session of parliament would be the right thing where various aspects related to Pahalgam would be discussed, should be discussed," he said.
    Welcoming the understanding reached between India and Pakistan to end the conflict, the CPI(M) leader said India should force the neighbouring country through "diplomatic pressure" to disassociate itself with terrorism.
    Pakistan should be pressurised to hand over those who carried out the Pahalgam terror attack to India, if they are either in PoK or in Pakistan, he added.
    On the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar, Baby said the CPI(M) is in favour of the INDIA bloc parties contesting together.
    "We want the 'Mahagathbandhan' to work and operate in Bihar so that the first befitting rebuff to communal forces can be given in Bihar," he said.
    The march to success for the INDIA bloc can commence in Bihar so that elections in Assam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry, which would take place within a year's time, would also get a positive energy from the result of Bihar, he said.
    Asked if he is speaking to INDIA bloc parties in Bihar, including Congress, to reach an electoral understanding, he said his party proposes to hold discussions with all the partners of 'Mahagathbandhan' in the state.
    He had a meeting with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Baby said.
    Asked about the way forward for the INDIA bloc which has lost steam of late, Baby said the opposition alliance was "primarily working for the last Lok Sabha elections" and that it played an important role in BJP not getting a majority of its own in the polls.
    "Now, as and when the INDIA bloc needs to meet and take up certain political responsibilities, parties which form part of the INDIA bloc will discuss and take decisions," he said.
    While the INDIA bloc exists at the national level, the parties would operate depending on the political situation in different states, he said.
    After taking over as the CPI(M) general secretary, he had meetings with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and also with leaders in Bihar, he added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)