Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya on Monday expressed his disappointment over the paltry Rs 10 lakh compensation announced by the Siddaramaiah government to the families of the Pahalgam terror attack victims.
“I feel this ill-advised government has lost humanity. Both the women (Pallavi and Dr Sujata) who lost their husbands are now single mothers who will need to support their young children, educate them and secure their future. When the Karnataka government could award a compensation of Rs 15 lakh after a man was trampled to death by an elephant in Rahul Gandhi's previous constituency Wayanad, it's shameful that it is not even considering suitable compensation to the survivors of the terror attack,” slammed Surya, during a press meet held in Bengaluru.
Surya informed that three institutions—RV Education Trust, Transcend and Mahaveer Jain Hospital—had come forward to help the bereaved families. The educational institutes had offered free education to the children and the hospital had offered to bear all the healthcare expenses of the families.
“The Pahalgam incident is not only an attack on the Indian state but also on the Hindu community. In a fundraiser event held in my constituency, we collected Rs 20 lakh to help the two families. If we don’t stand by them today, no one will stand by us tomorrow,” warned Surya, who also urged the chief minister to announce a fair compensation.
Responding to a question on Congress leaders alleging security lapses at Pahalgam, Surya said Congress needed to question its own track record in Kashmir before speaking about the Modi government.
“When UPA ruled the country for 10 years, terror attacks in the Indian cities were as common as children lighting firecrackers during Deepavali. The only news coming out of Jammu and Kashmir was that of stone pelting by locals, bomb blasts or the fatalities of our soldiers during encounter operations. But after the BJP came to power at the Centre, the annual tourist inflow touched 1.80 crore, and the stone pelting incidents after every Friday evening 'namaz' stopped. The fatalities of our jawans have stopped. Today, the Indian flag flies high in Lal Chowk in Srinagar, infrastructure development work worth Rs 80,000 crore is taking place in J&K, the families there are taking their children to watch movies in the new multiplex and people from the rest of India are investing in businesses in Kashmir. Amarnath Yatra has seen record footfalls.”
Slamming the state Congress leaders for their remarks on the terror attack, Surya said the Congress had sold their soul for vote-bank politics.
“They could not defend one of their own leaders Akhanda Srinivasmurthy after mobs set the police station on fire and attacked his house in Pulakeshinagar. And today they are asking what Modi is doing about unity and integrity of the country. people who trivialise serious concerns of national security and integrity do not deserve to be in public life,” said the Yuva Morcha president referring to remarks made by state excise minister RB Thimmapur who had expressed doubt that the assailants would have asked the name and religion of the tourists. Thimmapur had claimed that the religious colour was being added to cover up intelligence failure in Pahalgam as in the case of Kargil and Pulwama.
“The terrorists had confirmed the identity of the victims not by checking their identity cards but by forcing them to remove their pants,” said Surya.
To a question on tourism in Kashmir taking a hit after the attack, Surya said tourism had not halted.
“People can visit Kashmir the moment they decide to go there. I am noticing calls to boycott Kashmir on social media and would like to remind people that J&K does not belong to Pakistan or Afghanistan but India. From time immemorial, be it references to Sage Kashyap's era or our cultural practices like "Akshara Abhyasa" (child's initiation into writing), where the 'sholka' (ancient verse) refers to Kashmir as the abode of Goddess Saraswathi, Kashmir has always been part of India. Every inch of Kashmir belongs to India. We must not only tour Kashmir, but also invest and live in Kashmir. There is no question of us abandoning Kashmir,” he reasoned.
When asked about war preparedness, Surya said the prime minister had openly assured the people of the country that the terrorists and their handlers responsible for the Pahalgam killings would be smoked out from their hideouts and severely punished.
“This is the commitment made by the Modi government to the people of this country,” he added.
