NEW DELHI: Terming Indian security personnel and soldiers as the best in the world, veteran Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday called for giving them a “free hand” to hit out at cross border terrorism.
Taking the floor on Wednesday, Yadav said in the Lok Sabha during Zero Hour: “Our jawans (soldiers) are the best in the world. But now Pakistan is killing them. It is an insult to our armed forces. It is not a small issue. Why this dilemma? (Yeh duvidha kyun?) I have information that the armed forces have not been given free hand”.
Lambasting the government over the killing of soldiers in the fight against counter insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, the former Union defence minister stated that repeated targeting of the armed forces by terrorists has dented their image globally and wondered whether the government was in a “dilemma” to deal with the problem of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.
Yadav was talking in the backdrop of last week’s Pulwama attack.
On the last day of 2017, heavily-armed terrorists owing allegiance to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, stormed the CRPF camp at Lethpora in Pulwama district in a pre-dawn strike killing five CRPF men and injuring three others.
“Our soldiers are being killed almost regularly. The government must tell us why this is happening. The armed forces must be given full freedom to retaliate to Pakistan sponsored terrorism,” said Mr Yadav.
On Tuesday, the Congress had also slammed the government on the Pulwama CRPF camp attack asserting that it has failed to protect military installations from cross-border terror strikes.
