Unanswered Questions: How Families Of Pulwama Attack Victims Deserve More Than Just Mere Compensation?

The Pulwama massacre on February 14, 2019, devastated the country. Around 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed after an explosive-laden vehicle collided with the convoy. The incident took place in Awantipora on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, condemned globally. Soon after, the Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack.

Considered the deadliest attack on the state security personnel since 1989, its wounds still affect the martyrs' families as they bid farewell to their loved ones. The anger was evident with the people looking for answers to several questions surrounding it. Not only that, it further deepened the rift between India and Pakistan, with the usual blame game intensifying.

Awaiting Justice

Three years down the line, the attack remains a big blot on national security. The victims were hailed as martyrs as the entire country respects them on the 'Black Day'. Their families were promised a few things to commemorate the loss, monetary compensation being one of them. While the state government swiftly fulfilled the same, several unanswered questions have come back to haunt them, with the kin wanting to know the government's real' action'.

Speaking to BBC, the family of the slain Ajit Kumar said, "We got compensation, and that is fine. But we still can't understand why the government is not trying to find out how the attack happened. Who did it and why? We keep wondering." Some of the other questions revolved around the intelligence agencies' incapability of preventing it. A former CRPF inspector general stated that the attack was a 'big mistake' that should have been avoided at all costs.

Compensation Not Enough

Apart from monetary compensation, some families were promised a memorial in the victim's name. Sanju Devi, the widow of a CRPF soldier named Mahesh Kumar, told Hindustan Times in 2020 about the unfulfilled promises, "My two sons are school-going, but the promise of financial support for their education is yet to come. I wanted a small function to mark my husband's martyrdom, but the memorial and park are yet to come up." Another family in Rajasthan were promised a government school named after the slain trooper, but that remains to be done.

For several families, the CRPF personnel was the sole bread-earner. BBC quotes Manju Lamba, wife of the martyred Rohitash Lamba, whose brother in law was promised a job. A Rajasthan minister named Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said, "We have not been able to give a job to Lamba's brother because of some technical problem in the procedure."

Also Read: 'Pakistan Should Be Blacklisted By FATF': Union Minister VK Singh After Islamabad's Admission On Pulwama Attack