JOIN USInsisting that the “fight against terrorism is the fight of united India”, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury has said that the government and the agencies will have to answer where lies the fault as the attacks in Jammu and Kashmir are continuing even after the Balakot air strikes.
He accused the BJP of politicising the Pulwama terror attacks and subsequent air strikes in Pakistan’s Balakot, saying its president Amit Shah has started it while the Opposition has been saying that it is “India versus terrorism”.
Yechury was asked how the Opposition sought to counter the government making any questioning of its narrative sound ‘anti-national’.
“Now, it is not the time to do a post mortem on it. Now the question is to ensure that such things do not repeat in the future.
Attacks continue
“My concern is that even after Balakot, nearly a dozen security personnel were killed in terror attacks. You had the bomb blast in Jammu. So these attacks are continuing. Now where is the fault that the government and the agencies will have to answer,” he told DH in an exclusive interview.
“We are saying is that we cannot lower our guard. Our vigilance must be top most. Then you see that you have to utilise the diplomatic channels in order to defuse this situation. Both globally and bilaterally. So that will have to be the direction we should go,” he said.
Yechury was critical of the way the Narendra Modi government handled the Kashmir issue in the past over four years, saying every particular indicator of terrorist attacks, ceasefire violations, loss of security personnel and civilian lives has “exponentially risen”. These are “very serious concerns”, he said.
Asked whether the Opposition campaign has been derailed by the Pulwama-Balakot incidents and how the Opposition counters government narrative, he put the blame of politicisation at the door steps of the BJP.
“It begins with the BJP president. He said our government, the Modi government will give back and give fitting rebuff, that no earlier government could give. Earlier government or whatever, what we need is a rebuff to terrorism...
“The BJP president says 250 killed, the home minister says 300 cell phones were there which are not working, therefore 300 killed. Another Cabinet Minister says 450 killed. And one minister says zero killed because our aim was not to create casualties but only to tell them that we have hit them,” he said.