From Narendra Modi, the prime minister to union ministers Sakshi Maharaj to Alphons Kannanthanam, senior members of the ruling establishment callously used the terror attack for narror political ends. BJP President Amit Shah too joined this tasteless bandwagon.
One tasteless visual was of union minister Sakshi Maharaj waving to supporters during a sombre and grief filled funeral march. Navakal the Maharashtra Daily boxed a slogan “Modi Go Back” sharply criticising the prime minister for addressing an election rally (SIC) in Yavatmal when the cremation of two of the martyred CRPF jawans was just miles away in neighbouring Buldanha district of Vidharbha.
The mortal remains of two CRPF jawans from Maharashtra, who were martyred in the Pulwama terror attack, were brought to the city of Aurangabad and sent to their native places in Buldhana district on Saturday. The bodies of Nitin Shivaji Rathod (36) and Sanjay Singh Dixit (Rajput) (47) were brought to the Chikalthana airport around 12.25 pm. on Saturday, February 16.
While Rathod hailed from Chorpangra village in Lonar tehsil of Buldhana, Rajput belonged to Malkapur in the same district.”Rathod’s body was sent to his village in a CRPF van, while Rajput’s mortal remains was taken to his native place in a chopper,” Inspector General of CRPF, Raj Kumar said. It was precisely around the time of the last rites that the prime minister was busy addressing election rallies and inaugurating projects!
Earlier the prime minister had even skipped the all party meet held in the capital to discuss the national united response to the Pulwama attack. Modi was busy attending election rallies in Maharashtra.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sakshi Maharaj was reportedly caught smiling and waving at the crowd during CRPF jawan Ajit Kumar’s funeral procession on Saturday, February 16. Kumar was among the dozen jawans killed when a terrorist rammed a bomb-laden vehicle into their bus in Pulwama on Thursday.
Kumar’s mortal remains reached his family in Unnao on Saturday. The local residents gathered on the streets to pay their last respect during his funeral procession, India Today reported. Maharaj, the local Unnao MP, was standing on the truck in which his mortal remains were being carried. He was seen waving at the crowd, smiling and folding his hands. It seemed Maharaj thought that he was participating in a BJP roadshow.
The video was shared by a journalist on social media.
Another shameful act was Union Minister Clicks Selfie With Slain Pulwama Jawan’s Coffin The minister’s act was criticised on social media. Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam clicked a selfie in front of the coffin of CRPF jawan Vasanthakumar, who was killed in the February 14 Pulwama attack and posted the picture on social media.
The Minister of State for Tourism posted the picture on his Facebook page on Saturday with the caption: “The funeral of jawan V.V. Vasanthakumar was held at the soldier’s home and it is because of soldiers like him that citizens of the country can live peacefully.” The minister reportedly took down the post later after facing criticism.
CRPF jawan Vasnathakumar was cremated with state honours at his ancestral home in Thrikkaipeta village in Wayanad, Kerala on Saturday. Twitter users slammed Alphons for posting the picture.
On Kannanthanam’s Facebook page the same picture was uploaded on Sunday without any caption along with a few other images. The minister was again slammed by social media users for seeking publicity.
BJP President Amit Shah’s rally speceh in Assam took the politics of terror to an all time low as he hysterically said that “Its not a Congress govt, but Modi in power at the Centre, so watch our response.”