'PM should seek Amit Shah's resignation': Sanjay Raut on Pahalgam attack

MUmbai: Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut said on midweek that the regime should occupy responsibleness of the intelligence agency failure which led to the deadly terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, and as such Prime Minister Narendra Modi should seek the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah."Security of J-K was already in the hands of the Army, but the attack happened. Action should first be taken on the Home Department, the government is repeatedly making mistakes...the Prime Minister should accept Amit Shah's resignation," Raut said during a press conference in Mumbai.Taking a jibe at the recent meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where it was said that the Armed Forces have a complete operational freedom to respond to the Pahalgam terror attack, Raut said that the Army already had a free hand, despite that, an attack still happened."Look, giving a free hand to the army is not a big deal, our Indian army is very big. Just yesterday, we saw that Rafale has been purchased. 27 Rafale aircraft worth ₹60,000 crore have been purchased. The PM has given a free hand to the army, and Kashmir is a part of India because of the army. The army had a free hand in Kashmir too, still there was an attack," Raut said.Saying that the responsibility cannot be shirked over to the soldiers, and the political leadership should take some responsibility too, he continued, “You are saying that we have given a free hand to our soldiers, but what is the role of political leadership in that? You cannot leave the problem to the army and ignore it. You are responsible, and the country's home ministry is responsible. Why did intelligence fail? What were you doing?”He further supported action against Pakistan, but said that the government is instead banning YouTube channels."You closed a YouTube channel, that is not revenge, it is a drama, it is a channel of India, 4 PM you closed it without notice, what kind of democracy is this?" Raut asked.He further criticised the government for the handling of the Pulwama attack, saying that only tears were shed, and a film has come out 7 years after the attack."It has been 7 years for the Pulwama incident, what action was taken, 40 lives were lost, how to do Josh, a film came out, you tell me what is Josh, where did your Kashmir files come out, everyone from the Prime Minister to everyone else went out wiping their tears, what has happened now?" the UBT leader said."Now your file should be taken out, Home Ministry files, what will you do, at the most you will put me in jail," he added.The terror attack, which claimed 26 lives in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, was one of the deadliest attacks in the region since the 2019 Pulwama strike, which claimed the lives of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans.