Karnataka Excise Minister and Congress Leader RB Thimmapur, commenting on the Pahalgam terror attack, said that he did not think the “assailants” would have asked the name and religion of the victims.
To this, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader CR Kesavan on Sunday launched a fresh attack against him.
Karnataka Minister’s Remarks After Pahalgam Attack
According to news agency ANI, while talking to the media in Karnataka’s Bagalkot, the Congress leader said, “I personally don’t think the assailants would have asked the name and religion of the tourists. It is not just to add religious colour to cover up an intelligence failure.”
After Karnataka Minister’s remarks, BJP’s Kesavan called it disrespectful to the victims and their families.
BJP Hits Back At Congress
ANI quoted Kesavan as saying, “The wicked and barbaric remarks of Congress Karnataka Minister Thimmapur have insulted the integrity of the mourning families and humiliated the courageous sacrifices of our victims who were killed in the Pakistan-backed Islamic terror attack in Pahalgam.”
The BJP Leader accused Congress of playing politics and dividing people along communal lines and said, “Even in this hour of national grief, the communal Congress party, which has completely forsaken and mortgaged its conscience and soul to bigoted vote bank politics of religious appeasement, is fiddling with the politics of polarisation and division.”
Kesavan slamming Thimmapur stated that it is clear from the families’ stories of the victims of the Pahalgam attack were asked if they were Hindus.
He said, “Congress Minister Thimmapur shamefully said that these terrorists would not have asked the name and religion of the victims, and he went on to say in the most atrocious way that it is unfair to target religion. It is very clear from the heart-wrenching stories of the families of the victims who were present when their loved ones were asked whether they were Hindu, and when they proudly said yes, they were shot before their eyes and died.”
“And today, the statements Thimmapur, the Congress leader, has made pretty much imply that these families and the witnesses to these murders are lying. Is that what the Congress leadership is saying? Are they saying that these helpless victims’ families, who witnessed the murders, are lying? Shame on the Congress Party for playing politics at this juncture,” he continued.
Calling out to Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, the BJP leader asked if they are playing a game.
Kesavan added, “It is high time Kharge, who hails from Karnataka, and Rahul Gandhi, who is going around saying that they will stand by the centre in whatever action we take, are they playing a double game? Are they trying to do the politics of hit-and-run and shoot-and-scoot, where one set of Congress leaders, including Siddaramaiah and this minister, are giving a clean chit to Pakistan, and the other side, Rahul Gandhi, is trying to play the good cop? The people of the country will not forgive the double game and the communal politics the Congress Party is playing.”
“The Congress leadership, if they differ from Timmapur, cannot just disown or distance themselves from these atrocious remarks. They immediately have to dismiss Timmapur as a minister in the Karnataka government and take action against him for insulting our victims and humiliating the integrity of the families of these victims,” Kesavan further said.
Siddaramiah’s Comments On Pahalgam Attack
The remarks by Karnataka’s Excise Minister came after the state’s Chief Minister Siddaramiah’s remarks on the Pahalgam attack. His ‘not necessary to wage war against Pakistan’ comment sparked a row on Saturday.
Siddaramaiah, on Sunday, stated that war should be waged only when it becomes unavoidable.
Pahalgam Attack And India’s Measures
On April 22, terrorists opened fire at tourists in Pahalgam, Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. In the gruesome attack, 26 were killed and several others were injured. According to reports, the terror attack was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), the frontal outfit of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Apart from the abeyance of the Indus Water Treaty, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) took other measures after the attack, including declaring the Defence and Military, Naval, and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi ‘Persona Non Grata’ and gave them a week to leave the country.
In addition, India will be withdrawing its own Defence, Navy, and Air Advisors from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had informed. He added that the Integrated Check Post at Attari will be closed.
(with ANI inputs)
