Families of CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama attack question govt's silence

NT Correspondent

New Delhi: More families of CRPF jawans who lost their lives in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack have asked for the truth, after Satya Pal Malik, who was governor of Jammu and Kashmir at that time, alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had forced him to be silent on key government indecisions that allegedly led to the attack.  

The Wire published a report quoting the family members of two deceased jawans who had also asked for an investigation into the terror attack which can allow for the truth to be revealed. The Telegraph newspaper, carried interviews with the family members of two CRPF jawans who are originally from Bengal and were killed in the attack. Sudip Biswas was from Tehatta in Nadia district and Bablu Santra was from Bauria in Howrah.

“In these four years, I have heard many things about lapses in security arrangements. But nothing definite has so far come out,” Sudip’s father Sanyasi Biswas told the paper. Sudip, a part of the 98 Battalion, died at 28 years. Malik, in his interview to The Wire, had pointed to a pretty glaring culpability of the government.

“The CRPF people asked for aircrafts to ferry their people because such a big convoy never goes by road…They asked the Home Ministry, Rajnath [Singh, then home minister] ji. They refused to give. Had they asked me, I would’ve given them an aircraft, no matter how. They only needed five aircraft, which wasn’t given to them.”

“The Central government should come clean. But it has little meaning for us, it only reminds me about losing my brother,” Sudip’s sister, Jhumpa, said. Bablu’s 71-year-old mother Bonomala Santra and his 36-year-old wife Mita told the paper that while they do want to know the truth, it will not change the outcome. Bablu is father to a 10-yearold daughter as well.