Rajnath Singh points finger squarely at Pakistan for Pampore attack

Eight Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and 24 injured on 24 June in what is termed as one of the deadliest attacks of this year. Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists opened fire at a paramilitary force convoy in Pampore on the busy Srinagar-Jammu national highway. Two militants were also shot dead in retaliatory fire. After the initial customary condolences, what followed was the usual blame game and all sorts of political rhetoric. “The only purpose of such blood-spattered acts of violence is to add to the tragedies and miseries of the people and subvert the government’s efforts aimed at bringing permanent peace and prosperity to Jammu and Kashmir,” said Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti . After Nalin Prabhat, IG, CRPF said that both the terrorists killed in the attack appeared to be from Pakistan and from Lashkar-e-Taiba, right from the Home Minister to BJP MLAs in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, launched a verbal attack on Pakistan.

Recalling his “standing orders” to the director-general, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that when the DG had told him that there was no response from Pakistan even after the Indian side showed white flag for dialogue, he had given standing orders that while no bullet should be fired first, but if any bullet was fired from that side (then) “forget the count of the bullets fired by us.” This was after the killing of five citizens by Pakistani Rangers on the borders one-and-a-half years ago. [caption id=“attachment_2857036” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Home Minister Rajnath Singh. PTI[/caption] “An attempt is being made by these terrorists and our neighbouring country to destabilise India . I call upon Indian youth to stand up to face such forces and we should greet and welcome the bravery of our security people and the way they are working with such valour and courage,” said Singh without naming any country. While the Home Minister did not mince words in blaming “the neighbouring country”, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit downplayed the attack and said that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir needs to be solved between India and Pakistan. “We hope we will sit and discuss on the issue and find a solution. It’s the month of Ramzaan, let’s focus on this Iftaar party,” Basit told the media, after an Iftar party hosted at the Pakistan High Commission. Meanwhile, in an interview with The Hindu , K Durga Prasad, Director-General, CRPF revealed that they were intelligence inputs of a terrorist attack, though specifics were not there. “There were intercepts about an attack on security forces. They did not mention Army, BSF or CRPF. Security waalon par hamla karna hai (we have to attack security forces) — these were the kinds of intercept available. We have been getting these intercepts for quite some time now,” he told The Hindu. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said  that in the last one month, over 25 terrorists have been killed by security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. “It is an act of frustration on their part to show that they still hold power,” the minister had said while addressing an ex-servicemen’s convention on Sunday. Top security officials on Sunday reviewed the security in Kashmir Valley.  As per Rajnath Singh’s direction, Home Secretary will also be sending a two-member committee to Pampore to look into any lapses and possible spike in cross-border infiltration of terrorists. The team comprising Secretary (Boarder Management) Susheel Kumar; Special Secretary, (Internal Security), Mahesh Kumar Singla; and Joint Secretary (Kashmir) Gyanesh Kumar will visit the state on Tuesday. With inputs from agencies