Congress Demands Probe Into Pahalgam Terror Attack, Seeks Compensation & Proper Rehabilitation For Victims

New Delhi: “The entire country awaits accountability, answers, and justice,” the Congress Working Committee said in a resolution on Friday, demanding a probe into the security lapses leading to the Pahalgam terrorist attack. It also sought compensation for the victims and their proper rehabilitation.

Congress Party Calls For A Comprehensive Caste Census

In another resolution, the party called for a comprehensive caste census and withdrawal of the 50% cap on quotas. The CWC meeting, held at the party’s previous headquarters at 24 Akbar Road, was attended among others by Congress Parliamentary Party leader Sonia Gandhi, her son and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and party president Mallikarjun Kharge.

The pain of the 26 families who lost their loved ones was the pain of the entire nation, the resolution on the Pahalgam carnage read. “This is a time for demonstrating our collective will as a nation to teach Pakistan a lesson and curb terrorism decisively,” it said and insisted that “the masterminds and perpetrators of this cowardly attack must face the full consequences of their actions.”

The Congress also urged the Centre to “act with firmness, strategic clarity, and international coordination to isolate and penalise Pakistan for its continued export of terror into our territory.” At the same time, the CWC said it wanted “time-bound accountability into the serious lapses in security and intelligence in one of the most heavily guarded regions of the country” as the “people of India deserve transparency and accountability.”

After the meeting, MP and former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi said, “The Congress will support whatever decision the government takes against terrorism and for the unity and integrity of the country.” On caste census, the party said that “after 11 years of continued opposition and stubborn refusal, the Modi government has finally conceded the demand of the Congress to collect population data castewise, as part of the next census”.

It recalled how Kharge had written to the PM in 2023 seeking an “up-to-date and comprehensive caste census” and “removal of the arbitrary ceiling of 50% on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs”. The CWC described Rahul Gandhi as the strongest and most consistent voice demanding a nationwide caste census, having raised the issue at the 2022 Nav Sankalp Shivir in Udaipur, Congress plenary in Raipur in 2023, during the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, in his Parliament speeches, and during both Bharat Jodo Yatras.

It also demanded urgent implementation of Article 15(5) of the Constitution, which enables the provision of reservations for OBCs, Dalits, and Adivasis in private educational institutions, saying they now play an increasingly dominant role in higher education, and exclusion of marginalised communities from these spaces only worsens inequality. The CWC advocated the adoption of the Telangana model of caste census and urged the Centre not to delay the exercise and to take all parties into confidence.