Modi slams Digvijaya Singh for calling Pulwama attack an 'accident'

Digvijaya Singh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday made a veiled attack on Congress leader Digvijaya Singh for terming the Pulwama terror attack as an "accident" and slammed the "few people" within the country who refuse to believe that the IAF had carried out a damaging strike at a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) camp in Balakot in Pakistan.

"The party which ruled our country for decades is now questioning the ability of our brave forces, especially a leader from Madhya Pradesh. Today, he said Pulwama terror attack is an 'accident'. Was it an accident? This is their mentality; he is the same person who gave Pakistan a clean chit during 26/11. He is the same person for whom Osama Bin Laden (late Al-Qaeda leader) used to be a messenger of peace," Modi said here, while making a veiled reference to Digvijaya Singh.

Modi's reaction came after Digvijaya Singh termed the dastardly Pulwama terror attack an 'accident'u00c2u009d and said that 'doubt' expressed in some foreign media reports over the February 26 IAF air strike is putting a question mark on the credibility of the Indian government.

Singh, a former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, made the remarks while tweeting in Hindi.

He said after the Pulwama 'durghatna'u00c2u009d (accident) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) strike, "sande (doubt) is being expressed in some foreign media reports following which 'vishwasniyata'u00c2u009d (credibility) of the government is under question.

Targeting the Congress, he added, "When Batla House encounter took place, there were some people who cried. Can we expect action against terrorism from the Congress?"

Batla House encounter, officially known as Operation Batla House, took place on September 19, 2008, against Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi, in which two suspected terrorists were killed while two other suspects were arrested. The encounter took place six days after serial bomb blasts rocked the national capital.

Attacking the Opposition over raising doubts on air strike carried out by the IAF on Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror camps in Pakistan, Modi said, "Our IAF has given a befitting reply to the terrorists on their own land. The entire world supported us by saying that India was left with this option only. But unfortunately, there are few people in our country who did not feel the same. "

Meanwhile, Modi took a potshot at Opposition by saying, "Though the air strike was carried out in Pakistan, few people in India are in shock."

Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee have been asking for details of the air strike and its impact following doubtful reports by a section of the foreign media. Senior Congress leaders like Kapil Sibal and Digvijaya Singh have asked for evidence while Mamata Banerjee had said that the nation has a "right to know" what happened after the IAF's air strike.

Referring to the Opposition parties as 'mahamilavati log' or adulterated, a dig at their all parties coming together with an aim to defeat the BJP in forthcoming general elections, Modi said, "Mahamilavati log are asking for numbers of terrorist killed in air strike by IAF or evidence for whether the air strike carried out or not. They started calling Pakistan as a peacenik. All mahamilavati log is taking the support of foreign media."

A day after India carried out air strikes on a JeM training camp (February 26) in Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Jammu and Kashmir saw heightened military activity on February 27, with Pakistani jets violating the Indian air space and dropping some bombs in the Rajouri sector after which one of their fighters was shot down.

On the same day, India also claimed it foiled an attempt by Pakistan Air Force morning to carry out strikes in Jammu and Kashmir by shooting down an F-16 fighter plane.

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