New Delhi, April 29: Congress leaders on Tuesday stepped up their demand for a special session of Parliament, endorsing the call made by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge in response to the brutal terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

The attack, orchestrated by ‘The Resistance Front’, an offshoot of the banned Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, saw terrorists open fire on a group of tourists in the Baisaran Valley, killing 26 people and injuring several others.

Rahul Gandhi and Kharge have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to convene a special session of both Houses of Parliament at the earliest to demonstrate a united national stand against terrorism.

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit told Media, “This is a good thing. We will be able to raise our views together. In such a time, there won’t be any differences between the ruling and the Opposition; everyone will be united on this issue. It will send a good and strong message of unity to the world.”

“Whenever such things happened, special sessions were convened. So, it will be good if a special session is held soon,” Dikshit added.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari also spoke to Media, saying, “Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge had said in the all-party meeting that the Congress party is with the government in India’s fight against terrorism. We will be with the government in whatever steps it takes. The special session will be welcomed by the Opposition.”

Congress leader Udit Raj further emphasised the need for the special session, stating that the government should have acted sooner.

“Now the matter becomes even more serious. If a terrorist was part of the Pakistani Army and their Defence Minister himself admitted that they had been providing training, and 26 people were killed in Pahalgam, necessary action must be taken,” he told Media.

“The government should call a Parliament session instead of the Opposition seeking it. It was Congress that demanded the all-party meeting. It seems the government only want to make allegations and not take action,” Raj added.

In his letter dated April 28, Rahul Gandhi wrote, “The terrorist attack in Pahalgam has outraged every Indian. At this critical time, India must show that we will always stand together against terrorism. The Opposition believes that a special session of both Houses of Parliament should be convened, where the representatives of the people can show their unity and determination.”

Kharge, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, echoed Rahul Gandhi’s appeal, stating, “At this moment, when unity and solidarity are essential, the Opposition believes that it is important to convene a special session of both Houses of Parliament at the earliest. This will be a powerful demonstration of our collective resolve and will to deal with the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam on innocent citizens on April 22. It is our fond hope that the session will be accordingly convened,” his letter read.

Following the attack, the Central government convened an all-party meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Rahul Gandhi attended the meeting and extended full support to the government’s proposed actions.

The Congress party assured the government of its complete backing to take necessary steps to avenge the killings of innocent civilians in the Pahalgam terror attack.

Sindh, April 29: Protest intensified in Sindh province of Pakistan against the construction of six new canals on the Indus River, as the declaration of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) has failed to build any consensus among the protesting lawyers.

The lawyers’ association, unsatisfied with the CCI proposal, decided to continue with their sit-in protest, which started last week at the Babarloi bypass in Khairpur district, local media reported.

The CCI, recognized as the highest constitutional body in Pakistan, was originally scheduled to convene on May 2. However, it was rescheduled to meet on Monday due to the deteriorating situation in Sindh amid ongoing protests against the canal project.

But the “hurriedly-called” CCI did not announce the complete abandonment of the six-canal project. Rather, it endorsed the earlier stance of the federal government that the project will only move if the CCI and the provinces reach a consensus, Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune reported.

“The CCI endorses the policy of the federal government. The federal government has decided that no new canals will be built without mutual understanding from CCI. It has been decided that the federal government will not move further until mutual understanding is evolved among the provinces,” an official statement released after the meeting stated.

Addressing the media in Kashmore-Kandhkot district, Sindh High Court Bar Association President Barrister Sarfaraz Ali Metlo stated that the lawyers’ demand is the issuance of notifications declaring the cancellation of not only the six canals project but also the corporate farming as well. He stated that the lawyers’ sit-ins will not cease over the CCI’s announcement.

“We have been demanding from day one that the government should notify cancellation of both, the six canal projects and the corporate farming,” he stated.

He warned that if the governments delay in issuing the notifications, protests will intensify and spread in the province.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Advocate Sajjad Ahmed Chandio, a member of the lawyers committee constituted to negotiate with the government, stated that a majority of the lawyers have rejected the CCI’s decision.

The declaration of the CCI had also not gone well with the nationalist leaders and social activists who are similarly demanding the cancellation of the project.

One of the social activists, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Jr said that the CCI’s decision does not reflect their demand to cancel the canals and corporate farming project.

“The government is also not listening to the people’s wishes because this CCI meeting was called in an emergency, in fear of the people,” he added.

Seoul, April 28: South Korea’s National Fire Agency (NFA) issued an emergency response order Monday to mobilise available national personnel and equipment to put out a fire spreading in the southeastern city of Daegu, officials said.

The NFA issued the order about two hours after the blaze began around 2 p.m. on Mount Hamji in the city, some 230 kilometres southeast of Seoul, and was spreading toward nearby villages.

Under the emergency order, the fire authorities have mobilised 28 additional fire engines to aid efforts to extinguish the blaze on top of 67 fire engines and 29 fire helicopters that had already been in operation, according to the officials.

No casualties have been reported so far, but nearby residents have been instructed to evacuate to local elementary schools, reports Yonhap news agency.

Acting President Han Duck-soo also ordered related authorities to “use all available equipment and personnel” to extinguish the fire and help people evacuate to safety.

“As the wildfire is spreading rapidly due to strong winds and there are residential areas nearby, make sure to take all necessary measures for emergency rescue and evacuation to prevent any loss of life,” he said.

The Korea Forest Service also issued a Level 3 wildfire response, the highest in its three-tier scale, as strong winds continued to spread the flames.

A Level 3 response is issued when wind speeds exceed 7 metres per second, the expected damage area is over 100 hectares and firefighting efforts are expected to last over 24 hours.

As of 6 p.m., some 57 hectares of land had been affected by the fire, with the containment rate remaining at 14.5 per cent, according to fire authorities.