At an all-party meeting convened on April 24, the Union government acknowledged a “lapse” in security that led to the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam region, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians.

The meeting, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, was attended by key cabinet ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's conspicuous absence—who was addressing a public event in poll-bound Bihar at the time—the government sought to brief opposition leaders on the incident and steps being taken in its aftermath.

Officials from the Intelligence Bureau and Home Ministry reportedly admitted that despite overall improvements in the region, this particular attack represented a serious security failure.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, speaking to the press after the meeting, said that the incident had disrupted the positive momentum in the Valley, with increasing tourism and business activity in recent years.

“A briefing was conducted through district officials, explaining how the incident unfolded and where the lapse occurred. The location of the incident is not accessible by main road; it can only be reached on foot or by pony, and is about two to two-and-a-half hours away. All parties were informed that, despite everything going smoothly, this incident took place — which constitutes a lapse,” Rijiju told the media.

“The government assured stringent action and emphasized national unity in combating terror,” he added.

However, the meeting also saw pointed questions from the opposition. Several leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh, and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, criticized the prime minister for skipping the session.

"Amit Shah and other invited members from all parties were also present at the meeting led by the Defence Minister. We emphasized the importance of the Prime Minister’s presence at the meeting, as his decisions are crucial,” Kharge stated.

AAP’s Sanjay Singh added, “He chose to deliver speeches in Bihar instead of attending a meeting of national importance.”

The opposition also raised concerns about intelligence and administrative failures. It emerged that the Baisaran valley—where the attack occurred—is typically opened to tourists only around June and requires formal permission from local authorities.

According to Singh, tourists were taken to the area from April 20 without notifying the administration, raising serious questions about coordination and oversight.

“If terrorists knew the area had opened, how did our agencies remain unaware?” he asked.

Owaisi demanded to know why the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was not deployed in the sensitive area and questioned the delay in the quick response team reaching the site.

“People were killed after being asked their religion,” he said. “What happened to the report on the 2000 Pahalgam massacre?”

The meeting also touched upon the spread of hate propaganda on social and mainstream media in the wake of the attack. Opposition leaders criticized inflammatory posts, including one from the BJP’s Chhattisgarh handle, which used an AI-generated image captioned “Dharm poocha, jaati nahi” (Asked for religion, not caste). Leaders from AAP, NCP, and IUML condemned the politicization of the tragedy and warned against turning it into a communal issue.

Owaisi warned that hate campaigns and media propaganda would only serve the interests of terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba.

“Such rhetoric helps them and harms national unity,” he said, demanding that attacks on Kashmiris and students across the country be stopped immediately.

“I said that the false propaganda against Kashmir and Kashmiri students must stop. If people on social media or TV news anchors turn this into a Hindu-Muslim issue, then Pakistan will be the one laughing. What the terrorists did — asking people their religion before killing them — is absolutely condemnable,” he added.

Representing CPI(M), Rajya Sabha MP Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with the government’s anti-terror efforts. However, he cautioned against turning national unity into divisive hyper-nationalism.

“The Kashmiris had also condemned the attack and assisted victims, the fact should be recognized to prevent communal suspicion,” Bhattacharya said.

He demanded transparency in the probe and reminded the gathering of the unresolved Pulwama attack report.

Despite the sharp exchanges, government representatives maintained that the meeting ended on a note of consensus. Rijiju said that all parties had resolved to fight terrorism in a united manner and called for avoiding politicization of such tragedies.

“We will take appropriate revenge against Pakistan and its sympathizers. The nation must speak in one voice,” he said.

The meeting was attended by leaders from various political parties, including Rahul Gandhi (Congress), Praful Patel (NCP), Supriya Sule (NCP), Thiruchi Siva (DMK), Sasmit Patra (BJD), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party), and Sudip Bandopadhyay (TMC), among others. The National Conference, currently in power in Jammu and Kashmir, was notably absent, reportedly due to not receiving an invitation.