Of the 25 bravehearts who lost their lives in an ambush by Maoists in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, on Monday, six were from Bihar. The mortal remains of five soldiers were brought to Patna airport en route to their homes, while one was to be transported via Varanasi airport.
The absence of Bihar ministers at Patna airport to receive the mortal remains of Sukma martyrs on Tuesday evening and halting of one of the vehicles carrying a braveheart’s body to allow the passage of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s convoy has landed the ruling Mahagathbandhan in a major controversy.
Of the 25 bravehearts who lost their lives in an ambush by Maoists in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, on Monday, six were from Bihar. The mortal remains of five soldiers were brought to Patna airport en route to their homes, while one was to be transported via Varanasi airport.
However, neither any minister nor any senior government official was present at the airport to pay their respects to the martyrs. At that time, the CM, his deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and other ministers and bureaucrats were barely 100 metres away at a foundation day function of Bihar State Road Development Corporation on Airport Road. The residence of several legislators is also in the same area. Janata Dal - United’s Shyam Rajak was the lone representative of the ruling Mahagathbandhan at the airport.
Even as the state government was facing flak for its insensitivity over the issue, another video of a truck carrying the martyrs’ bodies being halted to allow the passage of CM’s motorcade, cropped up. “One of the trucks carrying the remains of a martyr was stopped to let CM Nitish Kumar’s convoy to pass,” said an official of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Patna.
The Bharatiya Janata Party didn’t let go of the opportunity to corner the Bihar government over the issue. Union minister Ram Kripal Yadav, who was among the BJP leaders present at the airport on Tuesday evening, said, “This is the first time I have seen that six sons of the soil died for the nation on a single day, and the CM despite being in the vicinity did not have the time to pay his respects, nor did he send any of his ministers.”
Yadav expressed anger over the martyrs’ truck being halted to let CM’s convoy pass. “He should have stopped and saluted the bravehearts in respect, but he couldn’t do even as much. The government is a very insensitive one,” he alleged.
The last rites of the martyrs were performed at their respective native villages on Wednesday morning. However, the family of slain constable Abhay Mishra of Bhojpur were aggrieved as the local administration was reluctant to provide land for cremation.
“The villagers wanted the rites to be performed in the village itself, for which we asked the administration to provide a few feet land, but they tried to stall it in the name of permission. My son did not look left or right while taking the bullet,” Mishra’s father told reporters, after the issue was sorted out.
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 "Martyr Krishna Kumar Pandey")
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