PM Modi at his swearing-in ceremony (left); and (right) the bus which plunged into a gorge following a terrorist attack on pilgrims, in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, Tuesday, June 11.
Credit: PTI Photos
New Delhi: Congress on Wednesday questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the three terror strikes in three days in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming that the BJP's “loudmouth chest-thumping and hollow” claims of normalcy in the region have been “thoroughly exposed”.
It alleged that Modi is busy posting responses to congratulatory messages from Pakistani leaders Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on his third term but had no time to condemn the attacks in Reasi, Kathua and Doda in the past three days.
Congress Media and Publicity Department Chairperson Pawan Khera said, the “loud chest thumping” by Modi government has made national security a “casualty” in the past 10 years. “While innocent (people) suffer the consequences of cowardly terror attacks, business as usual continues,” he said in a statement.
Emphasising that his party stands united with the nation in the fight against terrorism, Khera asked why Modi is maintai[ing a “stoic silence” on these attacks which took place as the BJP was swearing in.
“BJP's loudmouth chest-thumping and hollow claims of return of peace and normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir have been thoroughly exposed. The fact that BJP did not even bother to fight elections in Kashmir valley is a testament to the fact that their ‘Naya Kashmir’ (New Kashmir) policy is an abject failure,” Khera said.
Khera asked whether it is not a fact that Pir Panjal Range Rajouri and Poonch has now become a hotbed of cross-border terrorism in the past two years, as over 35 soldiers have been martyred, following terror attacks in these areas in the past two years, alone. He said now terror has also spread to neighbouring Reasi district, which was considered relatively peaceful.
He asked whether it was true that at least 19 previous major terror attacks have taken place on our security installations under the Modi government. Is it not true that Modi Govt invited the rogue ISI to investigate the Pathankot attack in 2016?” he said.
“Is it not true that the Modi government has endangered our national Security, even as 2,262 terror attacks in J&K, in which 363 civilians died and 596 jawans have been martyred?” he added.
On June 9 as the Modi government was being sworn in and Heads of States were visiting the country, he said, nine people were killed and 33 injured in Reasi when terrorists fired upon a bus filled with pilgrims. “Did the victims not deserve a word of sympathy from the self-proclaimed 'divine' Prime Minister?” he asked.
A second attack took place in Kathua where a civilian was injured while on June 11, six security personnel and a civilian were injured in an encounter with terrorists in Doda.