The Opposition on Thursday questioned the government about security lapses behind the Pahalgam massacre, demanding a probe and the fixing of accountability, while extending full support for “any action” to punish those responsible.

At an all-party meeting convened by the government to discuss the terror attack, the Opposition also slammed the saffron ecosystem’s efforts to divide people along religious lines and extract political mileage from
the tragedy.

A source present at the meeting claimed that Union home minister Amit Shah acknowledged that there was a security lapse. “Had there been no lapse, why would we be here?” the source quoted Shah as saying.

“All parties have condemned the terrorist attack. The Opposition has given full support to the government for any action,” the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, told reporters after the meeting.

Neither Rahul nor Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge mentioned the subject of security lapses before reporters. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) had earlier in the day, however, flagged intelligence and security failure and sought a “comprehensive analysis”.

“Pahalgam is known to be a heavily guarded area, secured by a three-tier security arrangement,” the CWC resolution said.

“It is imperative that a comprehensive analysis is conducted into the intelligence failures and security lapses that enabled such an attack in a Union Territory — an area directly under the purview of the Union home ministry.”

Trinamool’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, too assured full support to the government in the fight against terrorism but raised questions about security lapses.

“Why was there no security force deployment at such an important tourist spot like Pahalgam? Why is the BJP turning this into a Hindu-Muslim issue?” Sudip asked.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not participate in the meeting, which was chaired jointly by defence minister Rajnath Singh and home minister Shah. The Opposition questioned the Prime Minister’s absence.

Briefing reporters, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said the parties had unanimously supported the retaliatory actions against Pakistan as well as “any future action” to fight terrorism.

“All the political leaders expressed their solidarity with the government for all the actions that the government is taking and thegovernment would take in the future. There were certain clarifications sought by the members, and the officials made the presentation and clarified the queries made by the members present in the House,” Rijiju said.

“I feel that the appeal made by the House that in thischallenging time the government must stand unitedalong with all the political parties have succeeded.”

Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh told the meeting that the nation wanted thecentral government to give a “befitting reply to terrorists in their language”.

“Their (terrorists’) camps should be destroyed and action should also be taken against Pakistan,” Singh told reporters.

Like other Opposition leaders, Singh too raised thesubject of security lapses and demanded punishment for those responsible.

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi sought decisive action against Pakistan, citing enabling provisions in international law and the IndianConstitution.

“The government has three enabling provisions and it should take whatever action against the country that provides safe havens to terrorists,” he said.

“International law also allows us to carry out the naval and air blockade of Pakistan in self-defence and impose sanctions, especially on arms.”

Owaisi, his party’s lone MP, was initially not invited to the meeting but was called after he protested.