The Samajwadi Party (SP), which will participate in the all-party meeting called by the Centre over the Pahalgam attack on Thursday, will flag to the government the “targeted social media campaigns” and “attempts of political leaders on social media to spew venom in society”. SP principal general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP, Ramgopal Yadav will be the party’s representative at the meeting. Speaking to reporters in Lucknow, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said no party should look to reap political benefits from such incidents. “It is the responsibility of the Centre to ensure fake news or those likely to pose a threat to the internal and border security of the country do not make the rounds on social media,” he said. Calling the government to take action against the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack, Akhilesh said terrorists have no religion. “Their purpose is only to create fear, stall the lives of people and create trouble for the country,” he said. Akhilesh also extended support to the decisions of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and said, “More stringent decisions must be taken… and they need to be implemented strictly. It must not be merely a statement,” he said. In an apparent reference to the CCS’ decision to put the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance, Akhilesh said, “Do we have arrangements to stop the flow of water (to Pakistan)? It is a long process.”
