Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka visit Pulwama martyrs’ families: Why hasn’t PM Modi found time for this yet?
BJP chief Amit Shah is going from state to state, addressing party workers.
On February 20, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, along with Uttar Pradesh party general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia, visited the families of two Pulwama martyrs in Shamli, UP.
To give credit where it's due, the visit was kept low-key, not allowed to turn into a media spectacle, and neither the Gandhis, nor the leaders accompanying them made any political statements.
At a time when we are struggling with the grief and outrage over the dastardly Pulwama attack, a healing touch is what the country most needs — shorn of bombast and chest-thumping, a simple, unequivocal message — that India stands by its martyrs and everyone shares the families’ grief.
The Gandhi siblings’ visit might very well have been motivated by politics. But it is at least a step towards providing that healing touch — something the governing BJP has failed abysmally at.
Why has Prime Minister Narendra Modi not met the family of a single Pulwama martyr?
Ever since the attack, the PM has inaugurated some projects, hosted Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and now flown off to South Korea.
In fact, the Prime Minister did not even attend the all-party meeting called by his own government two days after the Pulwama attack. Modi was busy unveiling a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji at the MIT World Peace University in Pune on the day of the meeting.
An explanation can perhaps be given about the MBS hosting and now, the South Korea trip — both prior international engagements the government did not wish to cancel.
But when the PM was aware that he would soon be flying out of the country — to receive the Seoul Peace Prize, by the way — surely he could have used his time before the Korea visit better?
After such a terrible tragedy as Pulwama, the PM could at least have addressed the country solely on this, assuring action, but also calming roused emotions. His decision to inaugurate projects instead and ask people to vote for the BJP if they wanted a ‘strong government’ reflects rather poorly.
And what of BJP president Amit Shah?
The president of the party that boasts of its grass-root connect and strength did not find the time to go and meet the family of even one Pulwama martyr.
He is, however, addressing party workers in several states as part of the BJP’s Shakti Kendra Sammelans. From the stage in Rajasthan, he exhorted Rahul Gandhi to name the grand alliance’s leader. In Rajahmundry, he said people might be criticising the PM over his handling of Pulwama, but he will keep working 18 hours a day. A few hours later, he said Kashmir was all Nehru’s fault.
???????? ?? ?? ???? ?? ???????? ???? ???????? ????? ?? ??? ???? ??? ???????? ???? ?? ??? ?? ????????? ??? ???? ???? ?? ???????? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ??? ?????? ????? ????? ??? ?? ???? ??????? ???? ??? ??? 18 ???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ???#AndhraPradesh #AmitShah pic.twitter.com/L5NYR75e1j
— NBT Hindi News (@NavbharatTimes) February 21, 2019
BJP President Amit Shah : Jis Kashmir ke kaaran ye sab aatankwaadi ghatna Pakistan krwa raha hai, vo Kashmir samasya ka koi janak hai toh Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ke karan aj Kashmir phasa hua hai. Agar Sardar Patel desh ke pehle PM hote toh aaj desh mein Kashmir samasya na hoti. pic.twitter.com/ws6oom01RO
— ANI (@ANI) February 21, 2019
Meanwhile, neither the PM, nor Shah thought it fit to talk about the ordinary Kashmiris facing hostility and attacks in various parts of the country — people who, as Prime Minister, Modi is duty-bound to protect.
Those BJP leaders who have bothered to visited the martyrs’ families haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory either.
Union minister KJ Alphons was posing for pictures at the funeral he attended. After the photo went viral on Twitter, and justifiably earned him flak, he angrily declared it was not a selfie, but a photograph clicked by someone else.
Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj was cheerily smiling and waving from a truck carrying the mortal remains of a martyred jawan.
BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj laughing while standing on truck, carrying the body of #Pulwama martyr.?? Shame on you @BJP4India pic.twitter.com/Xd71FoOxLO
— Dr. Ram Puniyani ??? ?????? (@Rampuniyani1945) February 16, 2019
Baghpat MP Satyapal Singh and other UP ministers had to face the villagers’ ire after laughing at a jawan’s funeral and not taking off their shoes.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated an exhibition of fruits and flowers at Lucknow’s Raj Bhavan on the day the widow of one of the jawans refused to cremate him till the CM visited her. He finally did visit the martyr’s family but after his funeral — and even then, he did not speak to the soldier’s widow.
How can a party that claims to be a great nationalist disappoint a nation in its hour of crisis?
The BJP’s behaviour betrays not just political immaturity, but rank insensitivity, born out of either arrogance or over-confidence.
There is never a good time for petty politicking, but there are indeed some terrible times — the BJP has chosen one of the worst such occasions.
As for our Prime Minister, while we are yet to see if he has the famous 56-inch chest that can fittingly intimidate our enemies, we would also like to know about the size of his heart — in truth, the more important attribute in a leader.