Digvijaya Singh was slammed for referring to the Pulwama terror attack as an "accident".
Highlights
- Digvijaya Singh was slammed for calling Pulwama attack an "accident"
- "Pulwama was a terror attack, what's the doubt in that," he tweeted later
- PM Modi said such statements reflect the "mentality" of his party
After senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh was slammed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers for his tweet referring to the Pulwama terror attack as a "durghatana" (accident), Mr Singh, this morning, challenged PM Modi to file a case against him. "The tweet for which you and your minsters branded me as a Pakistani supporter and deshdrohi (traitor), I tweeted that from Delhi where the police is under the central government. If you have the courage, please file a case against me," Mr Singh tweeted in Hindi.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Digvijaya Singh said the foreign media had raised doubts over India's air strike on a terror camp in Pakistan after the Pulwama "accident" and this has raised questions over the credibility of the government.
Slammed by several ministers and on social media for referring to the attack in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed as an "accident", the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister tweeted again, saying there should be no doubt that the incident was an act of terrorism. "Pulwama was a terrorist attack, what is the doubt in that? The troll army is evading primary questions," he tweeted later.
PM Modi said such statements reflect the "mentality" of his party. "The party that ruled our country for decades is now questioning the ability of our brave forces. Today, a leader from Madhya Pradesh said that the Pulwama terror attack was an accident. This is their mentality..." news agency ANI quoted PM Modi as saying at an election rally in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar.
Union Minister VK Singh tweeted: "Calling a terrorist attack an 'accident' should NOT be the political discourse in our country. @digvijaya_28 ji, would you call Rajiv Gandhi's assassination an accident? Don't weaken the nation & the morale of our armed forces with these senseless jibes."
Several opposition leaders have been demanding to know the casualty figures and details of the February 26 air strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed camp and asking for its impact. The government has not put out any official figures so far.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh attacked the Congress on Tuesday and said the party is not willing to accept an assessment by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) that said some 300 mobile phones were active at the Jaish camp before the Air Force's fighter jets bombed it. "The NTRO, which has an authentic system, said that 300 mobile phones were active... Were these mobile phones used by the trees? Now will you not believe the NTRO also?" he said.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday said the Foreign Secretary had not given any casualty figure in his media briefing after the air strike and only gave a statement which is the government's "position".