Digvijay Singh’s comment that the Pulwama attack was an accident has drawn a terse reaction from Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh. The Union minister, who is also the former Chief of Army Staff,  asked the Congress leader if he would term the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi an accident too. Digvijaya Singh had termed the February 14 Pulwama car bomb attack on a CRPF convoy that killed over 40 jawans as an accident. The Indian government had reacted strongly to the Pulwama attack and bombed Jaish-e-Muhammad camps in Pakistan’s Balakot town.

“With due respect, I would like to ask Digvijaya Singh Ji, was Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination an accident or a terror incident?” he asked, according to a video shared by news agency ANI.


When asked about the claims of casualties in Balakot in the air strike carried out by IAF, he said, “The figure is of the attack on Balakot (250 casualty), attack was only at one place, nowhere else. The target was selected carefully, away from residential areas to avoid civilian casualty.”

The remark comes a few hours after Digvijaya Singh dubbed the Pulwama terror attack an accident and sought proof from the Modi government about air strike carried out by IAF in Balakot of Pakistan on February 26. At least 40 CRPF soldiers were killed in one of the worst terror attacks in Kashmir in last three decades.

“After the Pulwama accident and IAF’s air strike (in Pakistan), some foreign media reports have expressed doubt following which credibility of the our Indian government is under question,” he said in a tweet on Tuesday morning. In another tweet, Singh questioned the claim of casualty caused to terrorists in Balakot.

“Prime Minister, some ministers of your government say 300 terrorists killed, BJP president says 250 are killed, Yogi Adityanath says 400 people were killed and your minister SS Ahluwalia says that no one died. And you are silent about this issue. The country wants to know who is a liar in this,” he said.

Meanwhile, another BJP leader Prakash Javadekar has slammed Digvijaya for his insensitive remark. “What has happened to the Congress? They are speaking against the sentiments of the country. They are calling lie the claims of defence forces. There is no democracy where questions are raised on the defence forces,” he said.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal has joined the league of leaders who are demanding evidence from Prime Minister Narendra Modi about IAF’s air strike in Pakistan. He even alleged that PM Modi and his party colleagues are guilty of politicising terror.

“Modi ji must answer as the international media like New York Times, Washington Post, London-based Jane Information group, Daily Telegraph, the Guardian and Reuters, are reporting that there is no proof of militant losses at Balakot in Pakistan,” Sibal said.