After the explosive interview of former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik to The Wire where he revealed the Narendra Modi-led Central Government was partly responsible for the tragedy of the 2019 Pulwama attack, families of the CRPF jawans killed are growing anxious regarding the Union government’s silence on the allegation.
According to a report by The Telegraph, family members of Sudip Biswas of Tehatta (Nadia) and Bablu Santra of Bauria (Howrah) who were among the 40 jawans killed want the truth to come out.
Sudip was 28 years old while Bablu had completed 20 years of service and was due to retire at the time of the attack. While Sudip was a constable with the CRPF’s 98 Battalion, Bablu was a head constable of the 35 Battalion.
“I don’t know what actually happened. In these four years, I have heard many things about lapses in security arrangements. But nothing definite has so far come out,” Sudip’s 68-year-old father and farmer Sanyasi Biswas told The Telegraph.
Their daughter and Sudip’s sister Jhumpa believe the truth will not bring her brother back. “The Centre should come clean. Four years have passed and the Centre has remained silent on the denial of aircraft to the jawans. However, it has little meaning for us, it only reminds me about losing my brother,” Jhumpa was quoted by The Telegraph.
In an interview with senior journalist Karan Thapar, Satya Pal Malik revealed that the CRPF had asked the Union Home Ministry, which was at the time helmed by Rajnath Singh who currently serves as the Union Defence Minister, for five aircraft to transfer the large convoy of more than 100 jawans as it was dangerous to travel by road.
“They asked the Home Ministry, Rajnath 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,” Satya Pal Malik revealed.
The former J&K governor also revealed how after the tragedy he called Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was shooting at Jim Corbett Park and told him that the government was partly responsible for the lives lost. Modi asked him to stay quiet. Even National Security Advisor to the PM Ajit Doval suggested Malik not talk about the security lapse in the public domain.
“It was 100% an intelligence failure,” the former governor stated. He further stated that the vehicle that crashed into the convoy was travelling through the nearby villages for 10–12 days prior to the explosion while carrying an estimated 300kg of explosives without being seen.
Malik claimed that even though Pakistan was the only place where such a massive amount of explosives could have arrived, the deaths were due to these security failings.
Apart from the Rs 35 lakh that the Centre paid as ex gratia to the Pulwama victims’ family members, each of them also received approximately Rs 56 lakh more under various central schemes.
Sudipto and Bablu hailed from West Bengal. The state government paid an additional Rs 5 lakh as ex gratia to their families.
Bablu’s 36-year-old wife Mita knows that though her husband will never return, the truth should come out.
“I still believe that a major security lapse had occurred. Troop movement had been suspended because of heavy snowfall; the order overruling it remains a mystery to me,” Mita was quoted by The Telegraph. She now takes care of their 10-year-old daughter and 71-year-old ailing mother-in-law.
