NEW DELHI: In a strong warning to Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday declared those responsible will pay a “very heavy price” and said the security forces have been given a free hand to decide on the timing, place and nature of their response to Thursday’s carnage even as the toll went up to 49.
The latest casualties were occupants of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vehicle that was following the bus rammed by a SUV packed with explosives on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.
A CRPF official said that all 44 occupants of the targeted CRPF bus had died and five others in the other vehicle had also passed away.
Another 34 troopers were being treated in an Army hospital in Srinagar for multiple injuries.
Officials said a post-blast investigation conducted by security agencies has found that “high-grade RDX” of about 80 kilogram was detonated in the blast that was carried out by a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist.
As the shock after the Thursday attack by a Jaish suicide bomber resonated across the country, Modi said the “blood of the people is boiling”, adding the terror outfits and those aiding and abetting them have made a “big mistake”.
An IAF transport aircraft brought the coffins to the national capital from Srinagar Friday night and they will be later taken to the homes of the victims.
“A befitting reply will be given to the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their patrons,” asserted Modi.
The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack, which is one of the deadliest terror acts in the border state.
Simultaneously, the government made it clear that India means business with a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) presided by Modi deciding to revoke the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. Withdrawal of the MFN status would significantly hit Pakistan’s exports to India.
After the meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will take all possible diplomatic steps to isolate Pakistan.
Hours later, the government reached out to the international community, most of whom have condemned the attack by the UN-proscribed JeM, in a major diplomatic offensive against Pakistan. The MEA held a briefing for envoys of 25 countries, ( including from the P5 nations — US, China, Russia, the UK and France — during which it highlighted Pakistan’s role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.
Before the briefing, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood to his South Block office and issued a very strong demarche over the attack and asked Islamabad to take “immediate and verifiable action” against JeM.
According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack. An all-party meeting has been convened by the Ministry Of Home Affairs in Delhi on Saturday to take stock of the situation.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) said it won’t “forget and forgive” but will “avenge” the death of its personnel. The country’s largest paramilitary force put out a tweet from its official handle saying, “We will not forget, we will not forgive. We salute our martyrs of Pulwama attack and stand with the families of our martyr brothers. This heinous attack will be avenged.”
Congress president Rahul Gandhi said his party as well as the entire opposition was fully supportive of the government and the security forces. “I want to make it very clear that the aim of terrorism is to divide this country and we are not going to be divided for even one second, no matter how hard people try,” he told reporters. (Agencies)
