IIOJK ‘strongman’ faces calls for resignation

He finally takes responsibility for Pahalgam after 82 days of the attack. In doing so, who is he protecting in Delhi

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Calls for accountability and resignation of Delhi-appointed lieutenant governor of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) grew on Tuesday after he admitted security failure in the April 22 Pahalgam attack that took India and Pakistan to a four-day military confrontation in May.

The main opposition parties in the Indian parliament, as well as the ruling party in IIOJK, demanded that the occupied territory’s Lieutenant Governor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manoj Sinha immediately resign and apologise to the people.

In a media interview on Monday, Sinha admitted that the Pahalgam attack that took the lives of 26 tourists, was a security lapse and that he took full responsibility for that. “I take full responsibility for the incident, which was undoubtedly a security failure,” he said.

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In response to his admission, numerous Indian politicians slammed Sinha for negligence and for his delay in taking accountability. According to a media report, they alleged that Sinha intended to shield “unspecified officials” in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

He [Sinha] finally takes responsibility for Pahalgam after 82 days of the attack. In doing so, who is he protecting in Delhi? How many days, weeks, months to also be held accountable and resign or get sacked?” Pawan Khera, a spokesperson for the main opposition Congress party, said in a post on X.

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“Since [Sinha] has taken full responsibility for the security lapse during the Pahalgam attack — when is he resigning? In a democracy, the next step after taking the responsibility is resignation!” said Shama Mohamed, the national spokesperson for Congress.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Imran Nabi Dar, a spokesperson for IIOJK ruling party, the National Conference (NC) that the next logical step for SInha “should be to step down and apologise to the people of J&K whose lives, livelihood and dignity were put at stake due to his blunders”.

Separately, a local leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami demanded accountability of the Indian government over the Pahalgam attack. “The government must come out with details about the lapses that resulted in the killing of 26 civilians,” he said.