NEW DELHI: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi will participate in the all-party meeting at Parliament on the Pahalgam terror attack, following a personal invitation from Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Speaking at a press conference, Owaisi said Shah had called him to ask about his whereabouts and urged him to attend the meeting.
“The Home Minister just called and asked me where I was. He requested that I attend the meeting, which is being held on a matter of national importance. I’ll book the earliest available ticket and head to Delhi,” Owaisi stated.
Earlier in the day, Owaisi appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend invitations to all political parties, regardless of their strength in Parliament, for the upcoming all-party meeting on the Pahalgam terror attack.
In a social media post, the Hyderabad MP revealed that he had spoken to Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday night. According to Owaisi, Rijiju indicated that the NDA government was considering inviting only parties with “five or 10 MPs” to the meeting.
Owaisi further stated that when he questioned why parties with fewer MPs weren’t being included, the minister responded that the meeting could become “too long” and “joked” that AIMIM leaders’ “voice is anyway, too loud”.
“Your own party (BJP) does not have a majority. Whether it is a party with 1 MP or a 100, they were both elected by Indians and deserve to be heard on such an important matter. This is not a political issue, it is a national issue. Everyone must be heard. I urge Narendra Modi to make this a real ALL Party Meeting, every party with an MP in Parliament must be invited,” Owaisi said in his post.
The Centre is scheduled to hold an all-party meeting on Thursday evening, where leaders from various political outfits will be briefed on the terror attack and given the opportunity to share their views.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh is expected to chair the meeting, while both he and Home Minister Amit Shah will provide a detailed briefing, according to official sources.
Emphasising the importance of inclusivity in matters of national security, Owaisi said, “It is not a BJP’s or another party’s internal meeting, but an all-party meeting to send a strong and united message against terrorism and those countries that harbour terrorists.”
He added, “Can’t Narendra Modi spend an extra hour to hear the concerns of all parties?”
The Pahalgam terror attack
In the most brutal terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir since Article 370 was revoked in 2019, at least 28 tourists were killed and many more injured on Tuesday afternoon.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a Pakistan-sponsored offshoot of the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has claimed responsibility for the assault. According to eyewitnesses, six suspected foreign militants disguised in Indian Army uniforms carried out the ambush around 1:30 pm. Survivors said the attackers asked people to recite Islamic verses before shooting them at point-blank range, indicating they selected their targets based on religious identity.
The attack coincided with high-level diplomatic engagements—US Vice-President JD Vance arrived in India the same day for a four-day official visit, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Saudi Arabia to strengthen bilateral ties with the Gulf kingdom.
Adding to the already tense backdrop, Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir had recently delivered a provocative speech, further straining relations between the two nations.
Security experts believe the timing of the attack was calculated to draw international attention and depict Kashmir as a volatile conflict zone that demands global intervention.
