Facing criticism for his allegations against the BJP regarding the 2019 Pulwama attack, Congress MP Anto Antony on Thursday claimed that he did not say that Pakistan had no role in the attack.
Speaking to a TV channel, he said that during the press conference on Wednesday it was the reporters who asked about Pakistan’s role and he had not expressed any opinion on that.
On Wednesday, when a reporter raised the issue of Pakistan’s involvement in the Pulwama attack, the Pathanamthitta MP had responded sharply, asking, “What involvement did Pakistan have in the Pulwama blast?” Mr. Antony, the Congress candidate for the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha seat which he has represented since 2014, said that his response “was interpreted by those present there according to their self-interest and intelligence.”
He claimed that it was the then Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik who had in an interview said that the sacrifice of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans in the attack was used for political gains. “Mr. Satyapal Malik publicly levelled the allegations. Why no sedition case has been lodged against him,” Mr. Antony asked.
Surendran’s remarks
He was reacting to BJP State president K. Surendran’s remarks that the Congress MP had insulted the country by denying Pakistan’s role in the Pulwama terror attack. Mr. Surendran had said Mr. Antony should be charged with sedition and arrested.
Mr. Antony further claimed that what he had said in the press conference the previous day was that those ruling the country would go to any extent for achieving political gains. “As far as I am concerned, I stand by what I have said,” he added.
The Pulwama attack took place on February 14, 2019 when a convoy of vehicles transporting CRPF personnel on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was targeted by a suicide bomber in a vehicle at Lethapora in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. The attack resulted in the death of 40 CRPF personnel.
