India’s opposition parties have called for the governor of occupied Kashmir to resign with an apology to the people of the territory after he admitted to a “security failure” in the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people.

On April 22, 26 tourists were killed at a hill station in India-occupied Kashmir’s (IoK) Pahalgam. India has blamed Pakistan for the horrific attack, an accusation the latter denies. Islamabad has called for an international independent probe into the massacre.

In an interview with the Times of India on Monday, IoK Lieutenant Governor and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manoj Sinha said, “I take full responsibility for the incident, which was undoubtedly a security failure.”

In response to the admission, numerous Indian politicians slammed him for negligence and for his delay in taking accountability and called for his resignation.

The Indian National Congress |(INC) suggested that Sinha intended to shield “unspecified officials” in the union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, The Wire reported.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said in a post on X, “He (Sinha) finally takes responsibility for Pahalgam after 82 days of the attack. In doing so, who is he protecting in Delhi? How many days, weeks, months to also be held accountable and resign or get sacked?”

Similarly, INC national spokesperson, Shama Mohamed asked: “Since [Sinha] has taken full responsibility for the security lapse during the Pahalgam attack — when is he resigning? In a democracy, the next step after taking the responsibility is resignation!”

Meanwhile, Imran Nabi Dar, spokesperson for IoK ruling party National Conference, told The Wire that the “next logical step for him (Sinha) should be to step down and apologise to the people of Jammu and Kashmir whose lives, livelihood and dignity were put at stake due to his blunders”.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and general secretary MY Tarigami said that his party had been demanding accountability from the union government since the attack. He called for the government to provide details about the lapses that resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians.

“All those responsible should be held accountable. Acceptance means certain action against those who have committed such a grave mistake,” he was quoted as saying by the report.

PPP Senator Sherry Rehman also reacted to the interview today, saying the admission came “well after two months and after going to a whole war over it”.

She added, “The opposition in the Lok Sabha should really take down this regime for the spectacular incompetence that jeopardised Indian lives, credibility and reputation. The momentum is right there.”

New Delhi ‘lied’ to public about Pahalgam attack

In an exclusive interview with Indian journalist Karan Thapar last week, PPP Chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had said the Indian public was “lied to” by New Delhi about Pakistan’s alleged involvement in the Pahalgam attack.

In an interview with The Wire’s Thapar, the PPP chief said that had Pakistan been involved in the attack, evidence would have surfaced and the perpetrators identified.

“As far as the Pahalgam terrorist attack is concerned, Pakistan has been willing to be part of an impartial international investigation; your government refused that,” Bilawal said.

“To this day, the Indian government has not shared with Pakistan, with the international community, with the Indian public … who exactly are these individuals that were involved in this terrorist attack that are from Pakistan?”

When pressed on the issue, Bilawal said that if Pakistan was truly involved, the international community would endorse India’s perspective.

“It’s very uncomfortable for you that I point out the truth to the Indian public, that they have been lied to … that Pakistan was involved in this attack when we were not,” he asserted.

“The government has been unable to provide the evidence. That’s why during this war, the Indian media and the Indian government launched a campaign of disinformation to continue to bamboozle the people of India,” he added.