On the fourth anniversary of the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) lost their lives, outspoken Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijaya Singh stoked another controversy by terming the terror attack as "blatant intelligence failure".
"Today we pay homage to the 40 CRPF martyrs who died because of the blatant intelligence failure in Pulwama. I hope all the martyred families have been suitably rehabilitated", Digvijay Singh tweeted on the fourth anniversary of the dreaded terror attack.
Today we pay homage to the 40 CRPF Martyrs who died because of the blatant Intelligence Failure in Pulwama.
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) February 14, 2023
I hope all the Martyred Families have been suitably rehabilitated.
Earlier at Jammu on January 23, Digvijaya Singh had targeted the BJP government for the killing of over 40 jawans in the Pulwama terror attack.
He said that the 2019 terror attack could have been averted had the vehicle, which launched the attack on the CRPF been checked properly.
Quoting the then Director General of CRPF, Digvijay Singh alleged that the BJP government had rejected the demand of the higher-ups of the CRPF to airlift jawans from Srinagar to Delhi as the area was sensitive. "Why this demand was rejected?" he questioned.
Alleging that Pulwama has become the centre of terrorism, he said, "Every car is checked in the area. Why on that particular day was the Scorpio car not checked? A vehicle comes from the wrong direction. Why it was not checked? The vehicle was checked and soon it collided with the CRPF van and 40 of our CRPF were killed.
"Until now, the information related to the incident had not been given in the Parliament, nor are the people aware of it," Singh said.
Digvijay Singh speaking Pakistan language: MP Chief Minister
Reacting strongly to Digvijay Singh's statement, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan charged the Congress leader with "speaking Pakistan's language".
Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "I think Digvijayji's intelligence has failed, it is his failure. He insults the country's Army and speaks the language of Pakistan"
Seeking a reply from former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party MP Rahul Gandhi on this issue, Chouhan said an investigation is needed to find out who sowed the seeds in Digvijay Singh's mind to speak against the country and the Army.
Rahul Gandhi should apologize for Digvijay Singh's statement: BJP
Dubbing Digvijay Singh's statement as highly irresponsible and unfortunate, J&K BJP leader Devender Singh Rana on Tuesday demanded an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
"On the one hand, Rahul Gandhi has conducted the Bharat Jodo Yatra but on the other hand his senior party leader who is also a Member of Parliament is repeatedly giving such irresponsible statements", Rana said.
Earlier Digvijay raised questions about the surgical strike
This is not the first time Digvijaya Singh has stoked controversy, on January 23 he raised questions over the 2016 surgical strike against Pakistan.
Singh said that while the BJP government at the Centre claims to have carried out the surgical strike against Pakistan, there was no proof of the same.
"The Centre is ruling with the help of lies. I want to tell you that this country belongs to all of us," stated Madhya Pradesh former Chief Minister.
The Congress and Rahul Gandhi had, however, distanced themselves from Singh's remarks on the previous occasion.
