The all-party meeting convened by the government in view of the Pulwama militant attack ended in New Delhi. The meeting has been convened by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Senior Congress Leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said after the All-party meet that, “We had asked Home Minister to convey to Prime Minister that he should call a meeting of presidents of all parties”.Azad added that we have communicated to the Government that what RG told in the PC, that the country is in mourning and is angry.“Since 1947 apart from a war this is for the first time a militant attack has claimed so many lives. We have differences with the govt on a number of issues but at this juncture - we are standing with the government for ending terrorism. Militancy has to end." He added.“At a time like this, our party has decided that we are with the security forces and the local police in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.“We have also decided that there are many disagreements with the government, but for the sake of our country, security of all, we will stand with the government to end terror. The government has our support,” Azad said.Parliamentary affairs minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that during the meeting, the home minister took a firm stand on terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and said that the security forces have a free hand.“The home minister said we will rid Jammu and Kashmir of terrorism. He said security forces have a free hand. We have had a zero tolerance for terror and this attack is in response to this,” Tomar quoted the home minister as saying.
A resolution was also passed at the all party meeting condemning the “dastardly attack of 14th February 2019 at Pulwama”.“We condemn terrorism in all forms and the support being given to it from across the border,” the resolution says.“India has during the past three decades faced the menace of cross border terrorism. Of late, terrorism in India is being actively encouraged by the forces across the border. India has displayed both firmness and resilience in dealing with these challenges. The entire nation speaks in one voice to express its determination to fight these challenges. Today, we stand united in solidarity with our security forces in fighting terrorism and in defending the unity and integrity of India,” the resolution stated.The Minister is expected to brief the parties about the attack and the steps being taken by the government in this regard. Invitations were extended to all major political parties.The all-party meeting was attended by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia of the Congress, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O'Brien of the Trinamool Congress, Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena, Jithendra Reddy of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, D Raja of the CPI, Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, Ram Vilas Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party, Naresh Gujral of the Akali Dal, Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav.On Thursday, 45 CRPF men were killed in a suicide bombing at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. (PTK)