Publication Date : 16-03-2013
A day after the Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution condemning the execution of the Indian Parliament terror attack convict Afzal Guru and demanding that his body be returned to his family, both Houses of Parliament rejected outright the Pakistani resolution.
The Indian Parliament asked the Pakistan National Assembly to “desist from such acts of support for extremist and terrorist elements”.
In identical resolutions moved by their presiding officers--the Speaker Meira Kumar in the Lok Sabha (Lower House) and chairman Hamid Ansari in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House)--yesterday, both the Houses rejected “interference in the internal affairs of India”, with each House asserting that “This House totally rejects the resolution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on March 14, 2013”.
Noting that Pakistan has committed that it would not allow its territory to be used for terrorism against India, the resolutions adopted unanimously by the Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha declared that “only fulfilment of this commitment can be the basis for peaceful relations with Pakistan”.
The two Houses also iterated that “The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, including the territory under illegal occupation of Pakistan, is and shall always be an integral part of India”.
Both the Houses asserted: “Any attempt from any quarter to interfere in the internal affairs of India will be met resolutely and with complete unity of our nation.”
The escalating political tension between the two countries also made waves outside Parliament, with the Indian government deciding to call off the upcoming Indo-Pak hockey series. The Pakistan hockey team was scheduled to tour India in mid-April for five Test matches, which was supposed to be followed by a return visit by the Indian team.
The simmering tension following the recent beheading of an Indian soldier along the Line of Control in J&K flared up further three days ago when terrorists attacked CRPF personnel in Srinagar in the first fidayeen (suicide) attack in the Kashmir Valley over the last three years. The Indian government had pointed to a Pakistani hand behind the attack.
The Indian Parliament's hard-hitting response today came after various political parties in both the Houses expressed serious concerns over the Pakistan National Assembly's resolution yesterday.
Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha when the House met in the morning, the Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley said India should “seriously forget” even walking an “extra yard” in normalising relations with Pakistan, even as he slammed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government over the way the country was being “kicked around” on the foreign relations front.
Jaitley said the Pakistan National Assembly's resolution was an “official stamp of approval” of that country's entire polity on the 2001 terror attack on the Indian Parliament, one of the worst terrorist strikes in the country. “Besides interfering in India's internal affairs, the (Pakistani) resolution is an official statement by the entire polity of Pakistan endorsing the terrorist attacks,” Jaitley said.
Noting that India had always suspected the hand of Pakistan in the Parliament attack, he said, “Yesterday's resolution seems to have confirmed our fears” that the attacks were planned and executed by Pakistan.
Referring to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's “magnanimous” views about walking an “extra mile” in normalising ties with Pakistan, Jaitley said, “After a series of provocations, we would like to urge him that forget a mile, he should now forget walking even an extra yard.
Pakistan does not deserve this.” On the contrary, he added, “Pakistan should now go the extra two miles for us to resume normal relations.”
In the Lok Sabha, the senior Indian People's Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha raised the issue, saying “I urge that this House should pass a resolution to give a befitting reply to National Assembly of Pakistan's resolution.”
He also held that an attempt had been made to provoke the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Immediately, the parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said the issue involved “the nation’s sovereignty and integrity” and “all of us are deeply concerned over the resolution passed by the Pakistan Parliament”.
Nath then urged the Speaker to move a resolution from the Chair on behalf of the whole House.
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