BJP slams Cong for sponsoring caste analysis of martyred troopers

The BJP on Friday slammed the Congress for politicising the Pulwama terror attack and accused it of sponsoring a report on the caste analysis of the CRPF personnel who died in the attack on February 14.

"It is devastating to see that the Congress sponsored a report on the castes analysis of our soldiers. Does the army have any religion or caste? The army has no caste, it belongs to the nation," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told a press conference.

His comments come in the wake of a media report that carried a caste break-up of the troopers who died in the Pulwama attack.

Accusing the opposition of politicising the killings, he hit out at Congress leaders Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor.

"The government on Thursday announced that the water of three Indian rivers will not go to Pakistan and it will be diverted to India. But leaders like Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor tweeted against it. These tweets are now being shown on Pakistan television channels," he said.

The BJP leader said that after the Pulwama attack, India left no stone unturned to corner Pakistan and acted tough against the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The Indian government ended the security of all separatist leaders. This is something which did not happen in many years but we did it instantly." he said.

Patra said a report presented in the Pakistan senate lays down strategies on how to deal with India.

He said the report states that India's own fault lies in their own alienated population of Muslims, Christians, Dalits, Sikhs and Maoists.

"At such a sensitive time when the enemy country is looking for opportunities to break the integrity of the country, Congress makes divisive statements about the castes of the martyred men. The army belongs to the nation, it is much above the petty differences of castes and communities," he said.

He said it was very unfortunate that the language of the opposition leaders was similar to that of the enemy nation.

"The Pakistan army has said in its press conference that such incidents happen in India at the time of elections, with an attempt to downplay the terror attacks. Similar statements can be heard from leaders of opposition parties," he said.

Patra said: "West Bengal CM (Mamata Banerjee) has questioned the timing of the attack. She asked how did the attack take place right after the Parliament session concluded. She also asked who encouraged Pakistan to attack India. Such statements are highly unfortunate," he said. - IANS