JOIN USWith the government coming under attack from the Opposition over Monday’s Maoist ambush, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday gave a twist to the issue by questioning human rights activists for being silent.
“These (human rights) activists raise voice and react violently if an extremist or a terrorist is killed by the police, but take shelter in silence when large number of jawans and innocent people get killed by those who operate underground,” said Naidu, the minister for information & broadcasting and urban development.
Naidu’s comments are a veiled jibe, said BJP sources, at activists taking a position only when stone-pelting youth in Kashmir face the heat from security forces – under intense pressure in the Valley as they are faced with daily protests.
The BJP is also under pressure to explain the steps it would take to retaliate against Left-wing extremism, as it did across the LoC last September to avenge a militant attack on an army base camp in Uri, near the border in Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission issued a statement condemning the attack and hoped that states would take note of sacrifices made by the CRPF.