New Delhi: Even as India on Thursday paid its last respects to late Colonel Munindra Nath Rai martyred in anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir, the Central government which claims to have adopted a strong stand on security related issues was conspicuously missing from the scene.
Several senior Army officers including Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag were present to pay homage to Colonel Rai, but no senior minister from the Central government showed up to offer their respects to the martyr or offer condolences to his family.
The cremation took place in the national capital and even with senior ministers including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikkar present in the city, not even a single representative from the government arrived at the cremation ground to place a wreath on the martyr's mortal remains.
Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been claiming to have maintained a tough stand on Pakistan sponsored terror activities and had attacked the Congress-led UPA regime for maintaining a soft stand on security related issues.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had in January 2014 said that India should get at least 10 heads of Pakistani soldier after Indian trooper Lance Naik Hemraj of Rajputana Rifles was beheaded during a border skirmish in Jammu and Kashmir. Singh was killed on the Line of Control and his severed head was allegedly paraded by the Pakistan Army.
While the Uttar Pradesh government announced a compensation of Rs 30 lakh for Col Rai's family as he was a native of Derhgava village in Sohaval area of the state's Ghazipur district, the Central government is yet to do so.
Colonel Munindra Nath Rai, the commanding officer of 42 Rashtriya Rifles, was martyred along with Jammu and Kashmir Police constable Sanjeev Singh in an encounter with Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists in Tral area of Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday evening. Commissioned into the 2/9 Gorkha Rifles, the 39-year-old Colonel was honoured with a Yudh Sena Medal on Republic Day, just a day before he was killed in the encounter.
####No senior minister from the Central government showed up to offer their respects to the martyr or offer condolences to his family.
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