'Why were CRPF personnel denied aircraft': Congress on Pulwama attack

New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday demanded answers from the Centre on the outcome of the probe into the 2019 Pulwama incident in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed, asking why were the CRPF personnel denied aircraft and were made to commute via road despite terror attack threat.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the BJP-led Union government of "minimum governance and maximum silence" and asked it to comment on the reported revelations made by former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satypal Malik on the incident.

"The government believes in the principle of minimum governance and maximum silence … It is the government's responsibility to answer questions raised by the opposition," he said, adding that the Congress will continue to raise questions on the issue that concerns national security.

Addressing a joint press conference along with party leaders Pawan Khera and Supriya Shrinate, he said the government has created buildings as symbols of democracy but democracy is missing.

"Vishwaguru has created a new model of democracy where there are symbols and buildings of democracy but the soil of democracy is now missing," he said.

Shrinate asked, "Why were the CRPF personnel denied an aircraft? Why were they not airlifted?" "Why were the Jaish threats ignored? Why were 11 intelligence inputs, between 2 January, 2019 and 13 February, 2019 that had warned of a terror attack ignored," she said and asked, how militants procured 300 kgs of RDX.

"After a period of over four years, where has the inquiry in the Pulwama terror attack reached? Where, when, how and who will fix the accountability for NSA Shri Ajit Doval and then Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh," she asked.