The Congress on Monday asked if Amit Shah was a “holy cow” in the Narendra Modi government who could not be questioned despite his indifference to the massacre of jawans, pointing out that he had continued to hold election rallies even after the worst Maoist attack in four years that has left 22 CRPF men dead.
In the past, a home minister had to quit because he had changed his clothes on the day of a terror attack, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala recalled.
“The encounter between the Maoists and security personnel took place on Bijapur-Sukma border in Chhattisgarh at 11.30am on April 3. The first reaction of the home minister came after 24 hours. What was Amit Shah doing all this while? He was doing roadshows and addressing election rallies. Can a home minister be so cruel, so irresponsible?” Surjewala asked.
“When the encounter happened, Amit Shah was doing a roadshow in Thousand Lights Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu. The ex-CRPF chief was present in Chhattisgarh and he is always on hotline with the home minister. But Shah went to address another public rally in Tirunelveli and then moved to Kerala for an election rally in Sultan Bathery and then a roadshow in Kozhikode.
“When the bodies of our jawans were lying on the roads, the home minister was doing roadshows. Has any home minister in independent India behaved in this manner? I know Amit Shah is a holy cow and nobody can question him but can the home minister behave so irresponsibly? Next day also, he went to Assam and addressed a public rally in Sarbhog. He finally did a favour to the country by cancelling his next two rallies in Assam and talked to the media about the Chhattisgarh tragedy.”
Surjewala recalled how Shivraj Patil had to resign as home minister in the wake of the Mumbai terror strike because the media pounced on him for changing clothes during the day. “Here the home minister is doing roadshows and doesn’t even react for 24 hours, but nobody is asking questions. No rescue party was sent to the spot for 24 hours. How can such a person continue as home minister?”
The Congress had also raised questions when Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued shooting for a documentary when the news of Pulwama attack came.
The Congress also has raised questions about the handling of the anti-insurgency operation in Chhattisgarh and pointed finger at intelligence failure.
Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “If there was no intelligence failure then a 1:1 death ratio means it was a poorly designed and incompetently executed operation. Our Jawans are not cannon fodder to be martyred at will.” In another tweet he said: “No Indian jawan should face an enemy without body armour in the 21st century. It needs to be made available to every soldier.”
Over 5,000 Naxalite-related violence have occurred since the Narendra Modi government assumed office besides a large number of major terror strikes, including the daring raid on the Pathankot Air Force base and the army camp in Uri.Even the number of civilians and soldiers who have died during this phase is much higher compared with the previous regimes.
