Demolition of J-K terrorists' houses: TMC questions intelligence gathering

PTI, KOLKATA, APRIL 27, 2025 : Questioning the demolition of houses of alleged active terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir following the Pahalgam terror attack, the Trinamool Congress on Sunday asked why action was not taken earlier if there was intelligence on such activities by these persons. Authorities in Kashmir have razed houses of nine suspected terrorists and overground workers of terror outfits so far since the April 22 attack in Baisaran near Pahalgam that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, and left the nation grief-stricken and fuming.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, in an X post, said, "The demolition of terrorists' houses is now being paraded as a grand show of action after #PahalgamTerrorAttack. But these very houses are in Kashmir, under the control of @AmitShah's Home Ministry. If intelligence existed, why were they allowed to thrive unchecked? Why was no preemptive action taken? This belated drama cannot mask the abject failure to prevent the attack in the first place," he wrote.

Stating that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee have expressed their strong opinion for firm action against the terrorist act, Ghosh said that stringent action has to be taken against Pakistan and those who are providing assistance to the terrorists.

The TMC spokesperson said that all the houses razed are within India, and asked why action was not taken earlier. Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has asserted that it is time to teach Pakistan a lesson and reclaim the portion of Kashmir occupied by it. "This is not the moment for more surgical strikes or symbolic threats to Pakistan," Banerjee said. "It’s time to teach them a lesson in the language they understand. It’s time to reclaim Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Period," the TMC MP wrote in his X handle.

As part of the anti-terror crackdown that picked up more steam after the Pahalgam tragedy, security forces have raided more than 500 locations in the Valley in just five days and grilled hundreds of suspects. Political parties have urged the Centre to ensure that innocent people are not targeted while it goes after terrorists.