New Delhi, July 28: Lok Sabha is set to hold a special discussion on ‘Operation Sindoor’, India’s military response to the Pahalgam terror attack on Monday.

A fiery debate on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor is expected to unfold in Parliament, between top leaders from the ruling alliance and the Opposition.

Lok Sabha List of Business for Monday states, “Special Discussion on India’s strong, successful and decisive ‘Operation Sindoor’ in response to terrorist attack in Pahalgam”.

Twenty-six civilians were killed in the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, after which India retaliated through precision strikes under Operation Sindoor, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).

Meanwhile, the first week of the Monsoon session of Parliament witnessed major disruptions with the surprise resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar as Vice President.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to initiate the discussion on Operation Sindhoor in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Sources said that Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and BJP MPs Anurag Thakur and Nishikant Dubey are also expected to take part in the discussion in Lok Sabha.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to intervene in the discussion in the Lok Sabha. He may also intervene in the discussion in the Rajya Sabha.

Sources said discussion on Operation Sindoor will begin in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Rajnath Singh and S Jaishankar will be among ministers who will take part in the discussion in the Rajya Sabha, sources said.

TDP’s Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu and GM Harish Balayogi are expected to participate in the discussion on Op Sindoor in the Lok Sabha. The sources said the party has been allotted 30 minutes. From the Samajwadi Party, its chief Akhilesh Yadav, and MP Rajiv Rai will participate in the debate.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that the debate on Operation Sindoor will be held for 16 hours in the Lok Sabha on July 28 and for 16 hours in the Rajya Sabha on July 29.

“All issues cannot be discussed together… The opposition has raised several issues, like the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar and others. We have told them that Operation Sindoor will be discussed first. We will decide which issues to discuss after that. Operation Sindoor will be debated for 16 hours in the Lok Sabha on Monday (July 28) and for 16 hours in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday (July 29),” Rijiju told reporters.

Opposition parties have been demanding a discussion on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor and have sought the government’s clarification over US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

The Opposition parties had been demanding PM Modi’s presence during the debate. Since PM Modi travelled abroad on a two-nation visit this week, the discussion has been scheduled for next week.

Apart from this, the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc parties will meet on Monday at 10 am to discuss the strategy for the second week of the monsoon session, with the Lok Sabha slated to take up discussion on Operation Sindoor on Monday and the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Barabanki, July 28: Two people were killed and 32 injured in a stampede at a temple here after a live electric wire, broken by monkeys, fell onto a tin shed early on Monday, officials said.

The incident occurred at the Avsaaneshwar temple in the Haidergarh area during the holy month of Shravan on Monday when devotees had gathered at the temple for ‘jalabhishek’ (offering water as a ritual). The electric current spread through the tin shed as the wire fell, triggering panic and a stampede in the temple premises.

Prashant (22) from the Mubarakpura village under the Lonikatra police station area and another 30-year-old devotee succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment at the Trivediganj Community Health Centre (CHC), officials said.

A total of 10 injured persons were brought to Trivediganj CHC, of whom five were referred to higher medical centres due to their critical condition.

Meanwhile, 26 injured devotees are being treated at the Haidergarh CHC, and one of them has been referred for advanced care due to serious injuries.

Following the incident, there was chaos in the temple and surrounding areas. District and police officials reached the spot and are working to manage the situation. An investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the incident.

Barabanki District Magistrate Shashank Tripathi said that during the ‘jalabhishek’ ritual, monkeys had damaged an electric wire, which caused current to flow through three tin sheds in the temple complex.

The resulting panic led to a stampede in which two people lost their lives and more than two dozens were injured, he added.

Devotees later resumed their worship at the temple.

New Delhi, Jul 27: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah Sunday called for a data-driven defence mindset and pushed for a youth-led strategy.

Addressing the 8th National Security Strategies Conference (NSSC) in New Delhi, Shah paid homage to the soldiers who lost their lives during the Kargil War and saluted the efforts of the armed forces and BSF during ‘Operation Sindoor’.

He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong resolve and the support of fellow citizens sent a strong message of zero tolerance to terrorism across the world.

Pointing out that India’s economy had risen to the fourth position globally, Shah said that India was now a world leader in new and emerging technologies, start-ups, green energy, and innovations.

He said that India’s rising stature would lead to increasing national security challenges in the years to come.

Stressing that these challenges needed to be tackled through better coordination, Shah directed the formation of homogeneous teams of central and state agencies to develop strategies and implement and monitor them.

He also instructed the involvement of young Police officers in each state to brainstorm on national challenges and devise solutions to address them.

Shah said that this conference was significant in enabling senior officers to guide young officers, familiarise them with challenges, and show them the path to finding solutions.

He urged that the use of national databases like NATGRID, NIDAAN, iMoT, and CBI’s fugitive database be inculcated amongst young officers by including them in all training programmes.

“To address the challenges coming before the nation, a reliable ecosystem for real-time data sharing must be established,” Shah said.

He said that the PM Modi-led government had resolved numerous issues scattered across various states.

Shah emphasised that the next 5 to 10 years would be very important for the development and security of the country.

Observing that internal security challenges would remain dynamic given India’s geo-political neighbourhood, he exhorted the state Police forces and central security agencies to adopt the motto of ‘Security, Alertness and Coordination’.

Appreciating the achievements in the Left Wing Extremism areas, North East, and J&K, Shah asked Director Generals of Police (DGPs) to adopt a similar approach for effective implementation of the three new criminal laws and tackling the challenge of narcotics.

He advocated the need for a top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top approach in initiating action against big drug cartels, besides focusing on the extradition of narco-offenders.

Shah directed the DGPs to make it the prime agenda of the Police for the next three years on the path towards a drug-free India.

Pointing out that police stations were focal points of intelligence collection, he called upon the Police leadership to evolve a credible platform for sharing real-time information up to the police station level.

Emphasising the primary duty of the Police to protect the life, property and dignity of citizens, the Union Home Minister directed each state Police force and central agency to strive towards excellence, and nurture a spirit of healthy competition to address internal security challenges.

Stressing the need for all-round development in LWE-affected areas, he urged the DGPs to coordinate with state administrations to ensure the implementation of more than 300 central and state development schemes at the grassroots level.

Underscoring the importance of securing smaller seaports along our maritime borders, Shah emphasised capacity building of state Police to counter infiltration and smuggling activities.

He also reviewed the counterterror initiatives and directed that stringent legal action be taken against repeat offenders.