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Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah pay homage to martyrs on first anniversary of Pulwama attack
40 CRPF personnel were killed when their convoy was targeted by the suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14, 2019.
As India marks the first anniversary of the Pulwama attack today, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah paid tributes to the martyrs.
“Remembering the fallen @crpfindia personnel who were martyred during the dastardly attack in Pulwama(J&K) on this day in 2019. India will never forget their sacrifice. Entire nation stands united against terrorism and we are committed to continue our fight against this menace,” Singh said on Twitter.
“I pay homage to the martyrs of Pulwama attack. India will forever be grateful of our bravehearts and their families who made supreme sacrifice for the sovereignty and integrity of our motherland,” Shah tweeted.
Around 40 CRPF personnel were killed when their convoy was targeted by the suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14, 2019.
Tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after the attack. Leaders across the party lines condemned the attack and called for an appropriate response.
“I feel the same fire in my heart that’s raging inside you,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on February 17, days after the attack.
The response came in the form of the unprecedented air action against the Jaish-e-Mohammed’s facility at Balakot. The decision to carry out air strikes was taken within 24 hours of the Pulwama attack, with the government giving the Air Force two weeks to select terror targets and launch air strikes against them, three people familiar with the planning of the mission said, asking not to be named. The Balakot strikes are a classified operation.
“Pakistan was expecting a response similar to the 2016 surgical strikes after the Uri suicide attack. It never imagined that India could launch air strikes deep inside its territory. That’s why we took that route - to shock and surprise them,” said the first person cited above.
United Nations and several countries from across the globe condemned the Pulwama terror attack and extended their support to India in the fight against terrorism.
