Terrorists were Pak nationals, NIA has said, but not named them so far; BJP’s Amit Malviya slams Congress leader as he asks questions about investigation
Former home minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram’s argument that “homegrown terrorists” could be involved in the Pahalgam terror attack — and that “there is no evidence” so far that the killers came from Pakistan — has led a sharp response by the ruling BJP.
The controversy broke barely hours before Parliament was to take up a debate on Operation Sindoor, India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
“Once again, the Congress rushes to give a clean chit to Pakistan — this time after the Pahalgam terror attack,” BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya posted on X, with a clip from Chidambaram’s interview to The Quint.
P. Chidambaram, former UPA-era Home Minister and the original proponent of the infamous “Saffron Terror” theory, covers himself with glory yet again:
“Have they (NIA) identified the terrorists or where they came from? For all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists. Why do… pic.twitter.com/c32I1KzqOg
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 27, 2025
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In the full interview of about an hour, Chidambaram spoke about how PM Narendra Modi’s government had handled the investigation into the terror attack. He said there was a need to present evidence to foreign countries so that Pakistan could be held responsible at the international level.
“Why have the terrorists not been apprehended? Why have they not even been identified?” Chidambaram said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has so far arrested two local men from Kashmir and said they disclosed the identities of the three armed terrorists involved in the attack. The terrorists were Pakistani nationals affiliated with the banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the NIA has said, but refused to name them, saying details would be shared “at an appropriate time”.
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“When it comes to national security, there should be no ambiguity,” BJP’s Malviya further said, reacting to Chidambaram’s interview. “But with the Congress, there never is – they always bend over backwards to protect the enemy,” he alleged.
Parliament, meanwhile, is set to debate India’s response to the Pahalgam attack — Operation Sindoor and the diplomacy around it — with the Lok Sabha taking it up on Monday, and the Rajya Sabha the next day.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
