{"id":19703,"date":"2025-05-25T06:57:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T06:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=19703"},"modified":"2025-05-25T06:57:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T06:57:27","slug":"india-parliament-kept-in-dark-how-modi-govts-multi-party-global-outreach-differs-from-the-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=19703","title":{"rendered":"India: ‘Parliament Kept in Dark\u2019: How Modi Govt\u2019s Multi-Party Global Outreach Differs from The Past"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whether it was the 26\/11 Mumbai attacks, 2001 parliament attack, or a multi-party delegation sent to the UNHRC in 1994 \u2013 in all such cases, the previous governments took parliament into confidence before any global outreach.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"'Parliament<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Union government\u2019s diplomatic outreach \u2013 in the aftermath of the\u00a0Pahalgam terror attack<\/a>, Operation Sindoor and the four-day military conflict with Pakistan \u2013 has begun with multi-party delegations fanning out to key countries including UN Security Council (UNSC) members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move to send multi-party delegations abroad comes amid calls from opposition parties for a special session in parliament. Opposition members have highlighted that \u201cforeign governments will be briefed while India\u2019s own parliament and people remain in the dark\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While these delegations have been briefed by the foreign secretary on talking points \u2013<\/a> including cross-border terrorism originating from Pakistan, the objectives of Operation Sindoor, Pakistan\u2019s attempts to hyphenate itself with India in the global community, and the Indus Water Treaty \u2013 opposition members part of the delegations have said that these questions<\/a> remain to be answered by the Modi government at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has the Modi government bypassed convention?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While no special session was held following terror attacks in the past and the decision to convene a parliament session rests with the government, during both the 1962 and 1971 wars, the parliament was kept in loop. The parliament was briefed after the last major terror attack on civilians \u2013 the Mumbai terror attack in November 2008 \u2013 as the winter session convened only days after the attack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[The] parliament should be told about what has happened and what has been done by India although there are no specific rules and it is for the government to decide to take the parliament into confidence,\u201d said P.D.T Achary, former Lok Sabha secretary general. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 1971, the parliament session was already on and everything was disclosed in the House including all developments on the war front. In 1962, there was a demand from the opposition that parliament should have a secret session but Nehru said that there is nothing to hide and there will be an open session and government will place everything before the House.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A look at significant global diplomatic outreach efforts by previous governments shows that in the aftermath of the 26\/11 Mumbai terror attack, the parliament attack in 2001, and even the multi-party delegation sent to the UNHRC in 1994 following increasing violence in Kashmir \u2013 unanimous resolutions were passed in the parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While no special session was called, both the 2008 Mumbai terror attack and the 2001 parliament attack saw discussions in parliament with then Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Atal Behari Vajpayee delivering statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The present diplomatic outreach comes after the Pahalgam terror attack when 26 civilians were killed on April 22 in the worst attack on civilians since 2008 and the largest military escalation between India and Pakistan since the Kargil war in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Unacceptable to brief foreign governments while Indian people remain in the dark\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the first batch of the seven all-party delegations<\/a> left on Wednesday, opposition parties said that it was \u201cunacceptable\u201d that foreign governments would be briefed while India\u2019s parliament and people will remain in the dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s decision to send all-party delegations to key countries, including UNSC members, after Operation Sindoor has been marked by opacity and exclusion. Political parties were neither consulted nor briefed, and there is no clarity on the mandate of these delegations. It is unacceptable that foreign governments will be briefed while India\u2019s own parliament and people remain in the dark,\u201d said CPI general secretary D. Raja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raja said that the government must explain the growing confusion over the ceasefire terms and the role of US President Donald Trump, \u201cwho irresponsibly alluded to a nuclear conflict\u201d, that was denied by foreign secretary Vikram Misri while briefing the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs<\/a> when he said that the conflict remained in the conventional domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore reaching out to the world, the government must first respect its own people and institutions. India deserves transparency, unity, and dignity \u2013 not arrogance, opacity, and suppression,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on Wednesday (May 21), Congress MP and the party\u2019s general secretary in-charge Jairam Ramesh shared a video of Vajpayee narrating how he was made a part of a UN delegation by Rajiv Gandhi. Ramesh accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of stopping multi-party delegations only to use it now to \u201cdivert attention\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince the 1950s, MPs from various political parties have been sent in delegations to the UN in New York every October or November. Modi ended this tradition in 2014. But now that he is desperate and his image globally has been shattered, he suddenly thought of such all-party delegations of MPs to visit different countries to divert attention from the tough questions he is being asked\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramesh also said that the terrorists who carried out the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks were killed and one was arrested, which led India to receive support from countries across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook at the current situation, we are preparing a dossier and sending diplomatic delegations abroad but the terrorists are at large. They must be arrested and interrogated, that is the real issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the government has convened two separate all-party meetings \u2013 one after the Pahalgam attack<\/a>, and the other after Operation Sindoor<\/a> \u2013 Prime minister Modi did not attend either. He did make a statement following the Pahalgam terror attack, but it was at a rally in Bihar<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His address to the nation<\/a> following Operation Sindoor came only after the four-day long conflict ended with a ceasefire, which Trump claimed he had mediated, and 48 hours after the ceasefire itself. While Modi\u2019s statement was a departure from the US\u2019 claims, he did not make any direct references to Trump, who has since continued to reiterate the claims on various occasions. Trump went on to claim that he brought back the two countries from the brink of a nuclear war, and that trade was used as leverage to broker the ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How parliament was briefed after 26\/11<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Days after the 26\/11 terror attack in Mumbai in 2008, the parliament was due to be convened for its winter session. The parliament session which started on December 11 was adjourned after condolence notices were read out and discussion on terror was held the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussion was followed by a resolution moved by Prime Minister Singh which was unanimously passed. The resolution expressed unequivocal \u201ccondemnation of the heinous terrorist attacks in Mumbai by terrorist elements from Pakistan, claiming hundreds of innocent lives and seeking to destroy the values that India stands for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his reply <\/a>to the discussion, Singh apologised to the people of India on behalf of the government and said that he was \u201cacutely cautious of the fact that in the recent months, the acts of terror have been on the increase\u201d and that systems and procedures \u201cdealing with terrorism need a review\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn behalf of our government, I would like to apologise to our people that these dastardly acts could not be prevented,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advani in his speech, while questioning the lapses and intelligence failures by the government that led to the attacks, also said that the resolution passed by the House should \u201cconvey the unshakeable resolve of the Indian parliament and Indian people that, in this War against Terror, we stand together, and not apart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next parliament session, then Union external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee gave a suo motu statement<\/a> in parliament on the followup to the Mumbai terror attack on February 13, 2009. In his statement, Mukherjee informed the parliament about  \u201cdiplomatic activity to achieve the goals set for us, namely, to bring the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai to book, and to seek credible steps by Pakistan to ensure that there would be no recurrence of such attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mukherjee told the parliament how investigations had progressed in the three months to the point that details could be shared with the international community and specific information, material and leads could be provided to the government of Pakistan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA full dossier of the Mumbai attack was also prepared and forwarded to all my counterpart foreign ministers. At the same time, detailed briefings for all resident Heads of Missions in New Delhi were organised in the Ministry of External Affairs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite fierce domestic pressure, India then opted for strategic restraint rather than immediate military retaliation against Pakistan, which yielded <\/a>relative peace from terror in the years that followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multi party delegations sent after 2001 parliament attack<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After the attack on the Indian parliament on December 13, 2001, the Vajpayee government had sent multi-party delegations to brief world leaders. Then too, a day after the attack, the parliament had adopted a resolution condemning the terror attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis House condemns the cowardly terrorist attack on the Parliament House on 13th December, 2001. The cult of violence and hatred promoted by senseless elements having no faith in democratic institutions has claimed seven innocent lives. Such attacks reinforce our determination to fight the evil of terrorism. Let us rededicate ourselves to protect the sovereignty and integrity of the country at all costs,\u201d the resolution said.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week later, then home minister Advani delivered a suo motu statement and provided details of the progress of investigations. He said five Pakistani terrorists who were involved had been killed and their Indian associates arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his statement Advani called the attack on Parliament \u201cundoubtedly the most audacious, and also the most alarming, act of terrorism in the nearly two-decades-long history of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in India.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 19, when Vajpayee spoke at the end of a discussion that was held on the attack, he said that the need was for \u201ccollective resolve\u201d and no decision on war should be taken in haste. \u201cNo party can take such a decision alone. That would be the decision of the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While questions regarding lapses that led to the Pahalgam attack have been criticised, Vajpayee at the time, while stating that a tragedy was averted due to preparations made to fight terrorism, had said in parliament that shortcomings need to be pointed out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTerrorists were not able to succeed in their plan. We should not ignore these arrangements and we should point out the shortcomings. Suggestions are welcome to overcome these shortcomings, but this is not a question of ruling party and opposition party. The first thing is to ensure peace and brotherhood in the country,\u201d he said. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multi-party delegations were sent to brief countries around the world about the evidence India had about the role of Pakistan-based terrorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe PM took the view that India should brief countries around the world about the evidence we had about the role of Pakistan-based terrorists and the complicity of the Pakistani state and that simply going to war would not have served the purpose,\u201d said an MP who had been part of such delegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow things are being done in reverse order. We used military force first and now we are sending delegations to convince other countries about Pakistan\u2019s role,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1994 Multi party delegation in the UN following parliament resolution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Multi-party delegations were also sent to the United Nations in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition and increasing violence in Kashmir in the early 1990s. In March 1994, as Pakistan planned a resolution on Kashmir <\/a>at the UNHRC, then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao sent a delegation led by leader of opposition Vajpayee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February that year, parliament had already passed a unanimous resolution<\/a> on Jammu and Kashmir that condemned  \u201cstrongly the continued support and encouragement Pakistan is extending to subversive and terrorist activities in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The need to send multi party delegations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the Pahalgam attack was the worst terror attack on civilians since 2008, the focus then was to build diplomatic pressure on Pakistan and gather evidence of its complicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India\u2019s foreign secretary at the time, Shiv Shankar Menon, told The Wire<\/em> that \u201cthe world came to us\u201d after the 26\/11 and that there was no need for India to send delegations of MPs abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions are also being raised about the efficacy of sending parliamentarians abroad even as Pahalgam perpetrators remain at large. \u201cThey (attackers) are roaming around in Jammu and Kashmir and all our MPs are roaming around the world. The priority should be arresting the terrorists. The priority should not be to send MPs abroad,\u201d said Ramesh.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTerrorists who conducted terror attacks in Poonch, Ganderbal are roaming free. Who will answer these questions? There should be a parliament session, but it has not been called. If such questions are raised in the all-party meeting, the prime minister is not there and does not give answers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference Link:- https:\/\/thewire.in\/government\/parliament-kept-in-dark-how-modi-govts-multi-party-global-outreach-differs-from-the-past<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Whether it was the 26\/11 Mumbai attacks, 2001 parliament attack, or a multi-party delegation sent to the UNHRC in 1994 \u2013 in all such cases, the previous governments took parliament into confidence before any global outreach. The Union government\u2019s diplomatic outreach \u2013 in the aftermath of the\u00a0Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor and the four-day military […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[19068,19063,2680,19061,39,2701,265,19067,19065,19062,19064,19066,60,7247],"class_list":["post-19703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sample-category","tag-parliament-kept-in-dark-how-modi-govts-multi-party-global-outreach-differs-from-the-past","tag-dictotorship","tag-extremism","tag-facisim","tag-india","tag-intolerance","tag-modi","tag-modi-isolated","tag-multi-party","tag-non-democratic","tag-out-reasch","tag-parliament-kept-in-dark","tag-geopolitics","tag-injustice"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19706,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19703\/revisions\/19706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}