New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday claimed the party never plays politics on national security issues and lined up retired Colonel Rohit Chaudhry and retired Wing Commander Anuma Acharya, who demanded a white paper on the Pulwama terror attack. “We demand that the government publish a white paper on the Pulwama attack describing how the attacks took place, what were the intelligence failures, why troops were denied aircraft, what security lapses occurred, the role of CRPF, MHA, MoD, NSA, PMO especially the failures of responsibility and efforts to cover them up,” retired Colonel Rohit Chaudhry and retired Wing Commander Anuma Acharya said.
Around 40 CRPF jawans were killed in an attack in Pulwama when a convoy was moving by road from Jammu to Kashmir on February 14, 2019. The two former Armed Forces officers cited the recent “shocking” revelations of former J&K Governor Satyapal Malik and the statements of ex-Army chief Gen Shankar Roychowdhury, who noted that there was an intelligence failure in the attack and that if the troops had travelled by air, the loss of life could have been avoided and that aircraft are available with the civil aviation department, air force and BSF.
“Why were the warnings of a terror attack ignored? Why did the government not give permission for aircraft? Could the 40 lives be saved,” said retired Colonel Rohit Chaudhry and retired Wing Commander Anuma Acharya. According to the two former Armed Forces officers, four years have passed since the Pulwama attack and “we still do not have the probe report, which can provide answers to key questions related to the attack.”
“We recently saw that there were various quantities of RDX that were used in the attack being mentioned in the media. Whether it was 200 kg or 300 kg or what, we still do not know. But, the fact that such a high quantity of explosives was moving around the high-security south Kashmir area especially the Pulwama-Anantnag-Avantipora belt in a car is surprising,” said retired Wing Commander Anuma Acharya.
“How did the militants procure around 300 kg of RDX and how could it go undetected in a high-security area,” she said, adding “We want to know what responsibilities have been fixed. We hope the probe report, along with the white paper, will be out soon to clear the doubts over the issues.”
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The two former Armed Forces officers further said that in the previous Mumbai 2011 and Pathankot 2016 terror attacks, inquiries were held and the findings made public. “This was essential to establish the truth, fix responsibility and strengthen India’s national security. In Pulwama, too, these serious questions must be addressed, rather than hushing them up by saying “Tum chup raho, ye koi aur cheez hai.”
Congress general secretary in-charge of Delhi Shakti Sinh Gohil said, “When there was an attack on the Raghunath Temple, Akshardham Temple and on Parliament, we stood by the BJP government and supported them in fighting terrorism and never played politics. Today also, we are working for national interest rising above party politics.”
