Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India]: Shiv Sena leader Raju Waghmare on Monday took a strong stance against the Congress party’s reaction to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s comments regarding the Pahalgam terror attack. Tharoor had suggested that no country could have foolproof intelligence, acknowledging the possibility of an intelligence failure in the tragic attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which claimed 26 lives.
Waghmare criticized the Congress party, stating that the party’s actions have consistently been against national interests. He expressed discontent over Congress’s response to the situation, remarking that while Tharoor’s comment about the challenges of intelligence was valid, it was inappropriate for the party to make such remarks at a time when national unity was essential.
Waghmare said, “Congress’s approach has always been to stand against the national cause… How much Congress might say they stand united with the nation, but today’s Congress does not have a big heart.” He went on to explain, “It is very gross for Congress when it is time to stand with the country; they make such remarks. We welcome Shashi Tharoor, and what he has said is absolutely right. No country can be 100% protected… We can definitely take precautions to reduce terror, and that is what he has said.”
The remarks came after Shashi Tharoor’s statement on Sunday, where he linked the Pahalgam attack to a potential intelligence failure and compared it to the surprise attack on Israel by Hamas in October 2023, despite Israel’s renowned intelligence services. Tharoor stated, “Obviously, there was no foolproof intelligence. There was some failure… But we have got the example of Israel, the world’s best intelligence services, which were taken by surprise on October 7, just two years ago.”
Tharoor also pointed out that successful prevention of terror attacks often goes unnoticed, while the failures are highlighted. “We will never know about the various terror attacks that were successfully thwarted. We only learn about the ones that we failed to thwart. This is normal in any nation,” he explained, urging a focus on addressing the current crisis rather than immediate blame.
The Pahalgam terror attack, one of the deadliest in Kashmir since the 2019 Pulwama attack, has led to heightened tensions and increased diplomatic measures against Pakistan for supporting cross-border terrorism.