PM should answers issues raised by ex-Army chief over Pulwama attack: Cong’s Shaktisinh Gohil

PTI, Apr 30, 2023, 9:30 AM IST

Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should break his silence and answers the issues raised by former Army chief General (retd) Shankar Roychowdhury over the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.

”Gen (retd) Shankar Roychowdhury said the biggest responsibility for the martyrdom of soldiers in Pulwama rests with the government. The National Security Advisor, who advises the prime minister, is also guilty of lapses in security,” Gohil, a Rajya Sabha MP, said on Saturday.

He said the prime minister’s ”silence” despite the reported allegations of former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik over the Pulwama attack and the questions raised by Gen (retd) Roy Chowdhury raises many questions.

”In the national interest, a white paper should be issued on the Pulwama attack, with the government explaining how the attack took place, where the negligence was, what was the failure of intelligence, why jawans were refused aircraft, what security lapses occurred and what was the role of CRPF, NHA, NSA and PMO,” Gohil added. Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in the terrorist attack on a convoy of security vehicles in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama in February 2019. Malik, who was then governor of Jammu and Kashmir, has recently alleged intelligence failures and that the central government denied aircraft for the movement of security personnel.