We, the undersigned 310 concerned citizens of India from all walks of life and across the country, call upon the Government of India, to recommend to the President of India, to urgently convene a week long Special Session of Parliament for a thorough debate and deliberation on the terror attack in Pahalgam and India’s response to the same. Several MPs from the opposition have already written to the Prime Minister demanding a Special Session of Parliament and we fully support this demand.
We present the following eleven grounds justifying the urgent need for a special session of Parliament:
- Article 75(3) of the Constitution of India categorically holds that the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of People. Therefore, the Government of India is under a constitutional obligation to convene a Parliament session at the earliest so that it can place before the people, via the Parliament, all the facts related to the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.
- While the nation congratulates our defence forces for their valour and achievements within a short period of four days, it is important for our democracy to ensure that the operational success of our defence forces is not hijacked by the political executive
for their ulterior electoral motives. Further, since the truce was first announced by the American President, the assertions by the United States that the truce was achieved
because of trade deals contrast sharply with what the MEA has been saying. In terms of the military action, we still do not know what exactly has been achieved strategically,
how much losses we suffered militarily and why. With respect to the Pahalgam attack itself, we need to fix accountability for any security or intelligence lapses that led to the attack. - Moreover, since the attack, we’ve seen rising communal violence against Kashmiris and Muslims across the country, collective punishment towards families of supposed militants, and heightened tensions between nuclear armed nations. We also note the harassment of those advocating for peace, misuse of the law to suppress dissent,
irresponsible media coverage surrounding the attack and politicisation of military action.
The government must address these issues in Parliament. - If the Prime Minister can speak to the nation about Operation Sindoor, and various politicians can comment at events, even the Chief of Defence Staff can speak to international media, then there’s no reason the government should avoid answering questions in Parliament.
- While it is appreciated that the government has sent multi-party delegations of MPs to countries across the world to strengthen India’s case, the process of transparent dialogue between government and elected representatives on the floor of Parliament under full
public and media glare is equally, if not more, important. All party meetings behind closed doors do not meet the constitutional threshold of public accountability and transparency. - It must be noted that within a week of the terror attack, a one day special session of the newly formed Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was called and even a resolution was passed. During the 1962 India-China war, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had demanded a special session of Parliament and the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had agreed for the same. It is only befitting that given the extraordinary
circumstances, the present Indian Parliament also rises up to the occasion and urgently convenes to place before the people of India all facts. - Since the attack, many civilians, military personnel, and government workers in border areas suffered injuries and losses due to military actions from Pakistan. The government needs to help them rebuild their lives and ensure their safety. It also must protect the rights of all citizens, especially those expressing dissent or criticism. The government is failing on all these counts and must face public scrutiny in Parliament.
- Special sessions of Parliament are neither a novel concept nor inconvenient for the government to immediately organise. The latest example of a special session is from 2023 when barely a month after the Monsoon Session ended, a special session was called in the new Parliament building, to consider the women’s reservation bill, among other items of business.
- The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs decides when sessions happen, and the opposition has shown willingness to participate. The only barrier to calling this session seems to be the government’s reluctance to face questions and it’s dismissive
attitude toward parliamentary democracy.. - Convening a special session will also be an opportunity for the government to reverse the regressive trend of decreasing number of parliament sittings. In the first two decades since independence, Parliament would sit for an average of 120 days in a year. In the 17th Lok Sabha (2019-24), this came down to only 55 days on average in a year.
- Since Parliament sessions are getting shorter, the government’s argument that
whatever questions have to be raised about Operation Sindoor can be raised in the Monsoon Session does not stand. In any session of Parliament, even in the absence of any extraordinary situation, there are hundreds of questions and issues to be raised from all across the country. Opportunities to engage in longer and complicated debates and deliberations have shrunk already and ordinarily MPs barely get a few minutes to speak on issues of public importance. Therefore a special session focused on raising questions and debating the issues elaborated in this letter is the need of the hour.
It was expected that the government would have itself proactively convened a session. Instead, the government has chosen to announce the dates of Monsoon Session many weeks in advance (21 July – 12 August). However, that makes no difference since the proposed dates are in line
with the usual timelines of Monsoon Session. What would have made a real difference would have been to convene a much longer Monsoon Session starting from June itself.
Therefore, the government is strongly urged to uphold its constitutional duty, observe the
democratic traditions and convene a special session of Parliament at the earliest. This Citizens’ demand is made with the sole intention, and in the interest of maintaining the democratic standards of this Republic. The Parliament Session is necessary to sustain the absolute responsibility of the Government of India to be answerable to the people of India under all circumstances, particularly in the view that hostilities have now ceased. For all those special issues regarding the conflict that the Government does not wish to make public due to security concerns, it may clearly articulate that position to the people of India.
The failure to convene a special session now will be a betrayal of the hopes and expectations of the people of India. We the people of India demand answers and accountability from our government.
Yours sincerely,
