Amid a controversy that erupted following former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik's "explosive interview", Congress has again asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the serious allegations levelled by Malik over the 2019 Pulwama attack that killed 40 jawans.
Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil has said Prime Minister should break his silence and answers the issues raised by former Army chief General (retd) Shankar Roychowdhury over the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.
"Gen (retd) Shankar Roychowdhury said the biggest responsibility for the martyrdom of soldiers in Pulwama rests with the government. The National Security Advisor, who advises the prime minister, is also guilty of lapses in security," Gohil, a Rajya Sabha MP, said on Saturday.
The same was echoed by Malik earlier this month.
PM should break his silence: Congress
He said the prime minister's "silence" despite the reported allegations of former Jammu and Kashmir Governor over the Pulwama attack and the questions raised by Gen (retd) Roy Chowdhury raises many questions.
"In the national interest, a white paper should be issued on the Pulwama attack, with the government explaining how the attack took place, where the negligence was, what was the failure of intelligence, why jawans were refused aircraft, what security lapses occurred and what was the role of CRPF, NHA, NSA and PMO," Gohil added.
Pulwama Attack
According to the then Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, nearly 2,500 soldiers were returning in at least 70 vehicles via Pulwama in order to rejoin their duties.However, the convoy was targeted by a vehicle driven by a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist identified as Aadil Ahmad Dar-- a local resident of Pulwama. As per the defence ministry, nearly 80 kilograms of high-grade RDX explosive was used in the suicide attack. Later, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack. This resulted in the killing of at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.
Malik, who was then governor of Jammu and Kashmir, has recently alleged intelligence failures and that the central government denied aircraft for the movement of security personnel. Since then, several Opposition parties said that the PM should answer the allegations. However, the ruling party neither replied nor refuted any such intelligence lapse during the lethal attack.
(With inputs from agency)
