'Sacrifice moved Indians': PM, nation hail martyrs

SRINAGAR: On the third anniversary of the Pulwama suicide attack, a series of functions were on Monday held in Jammu and Kashmir and at places elsewhere in the country to pay homage to the forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)  personnel slain in the terror act.

The main function was held at Lethapora along the Srinagar-Jammu highway and about 22-km south of capital Srinagar where a Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) cadre 22-year-old Adil Ahmed Dar alias ‘Waqas commando’ had detonated the Maruti Suzuki Eeco with, at least, sixty kilograms of deadly RDX after driving it parallel to a fully occupied bus which was part of a large CRPF. The explosives blew up in a 150-metre radius and the CRPF bus was blasted open and reduced to ribbons of charred metal and the human remains scattered across a 100-metre stretch of the road.

Eight CRPF jawans were injured and several other vehicles and nearby shops and buildings also suffered damage in the impact of the massive blast, the deadliest carried out ever during the nearly three-decade old militancy in J&K. The attack was blamed by New Delhi on the Pakistan-based leadership of the JeM outfit and consequently the relations between the two South Asian neighbours went to the lowest ebb. On 26 February that year, Indian Airforce warplanes conducted air strikes on the ‘biggest JeM training’ camp in Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bringing India-Pakistan to the brink of war. The relations between the two countries continue to be strained.

On Monday, CRPF at the impressive function held at the war memorial at Lethpora paid tributes to the it's slain personnel. Additional Director General (ADG) of the CRPF, Daljit Singh Choudhary, speaking on the occasion said, “While remembering our forty jawans who lost their lives in the Pulwama we aim to maintain peace and harmony in J&K and beyond and rededicate ourselves for the cause.

ADG Choudhary and other officers laid floral wreaths at the memorial to pay homage to the martyrs and saluted their sacrifices.

Later while speaking to reporters, he said, "Every year since 2019 we come together here on this day to remember the forty brave jawans who lost their lives in Pulwama (attack). We remember their sacrifice and pay tributes to them from the bottom of our hearts". He reiterated that the endeavour of the CRPF is to maintain peace in the Valley and not let the sacrifices of its jawans go in vain.

Earlier during the day on Monday, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, paid homage to Pulwama attack victims, saying their bravery and supreme sacrifice motivated every Indian to work towards a strong and prosperous country. He tweeted, "I pay homage to all those martyred in Pulwama on this day in 2019 and recall their outstanding service to our nation. Their bravery and supreme sacrifice motivate every Indian to work towards a strong and prosperous country.”

J&K’s Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, also remembered the Pulwama martyrs and paid rich tributes to them. He said, ‘The nation will forever be grateful to our brave soldiers of the CRPF and their families”. He added, “We are firmly resolved to eliminate the menace of (militancy).”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the sacrifice of the CRPF jawans martyred in the Pulwama terror attack will not go in vain and asserted that “we will ensure answers are given”. He tweeted, “We can never forget the martyrs of Pulwama. Their sacrifice and that of their families will not go in vain — we will ensure answers are given. Jai Hind.”