New Delhi, July 30 — The three militants involved in the Pahalgam terror attack “met the same fate” they delivered to innocents, Union Home Minister Amit Shah told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, asserting that Operation Mahadev neutralized all three Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives responsible.
“Families of the victims and many others demanded that they be shot in the head — and that’s exactly what happened,” Shah said, while responding to a debate on Operation Sindoor in the Upper House.
The Home Minister confirmed that the terrorists killed in Operation Mahadev were definitively linked to the Pahalgam killings. “All three belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba,” Shah said, adding, “Such a horrific crime — where victims were asked their religion before being shot in front of women and children — has no precedent.”
The session began amid turbulence. As Shah rose to speak, members of the Opposition objected, demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi address the House instead. When the Chair denied their request, they staged a walkout.
In a pointed rebuttal to Congress leaders, Shah addressed senior party figure P. Chidambaram, who had earlier questioned the operation and demanded evidence of Pakistani links. “The Congress’s priority is not national security, but politics,” Shah said. “It engages in vote bank and appeasement politics.”
He further accused Chidambaram of undermining national efforts. “For the sake of vote banks, Congress appears willing to stand with Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and terrorists. That’s the mentality Chidambaram exposed to the world.”
Shah also responded to Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, who had raised concerns over naming the encounter Operation Mahadev. “When Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj fought the Mughals, his war cry was ‘Har Har Mahadev’,” Shah said, adding that many army battalions across India use religious chants regardless of faith. “This is not about Hindu or Muslim — it’s about the spirit of the soldier,” he said.
Clarifying operational details, Shah said that security forces — including the CRPF, Indian Army, and Jammu and Kashmir Police — tracked the militants through tough mountainous terrain. “They stayed in hostile zones, survived on food delivered by drones, and finally closed in,” he told the House.
With the Opposition absent, Shah’s remarks marked a strong defense of the government’s handling of the operation and a broader political attack on Congress’s position.
