JD(U) slams Tejashwi over remarks on martyr status
Patna: Senior JD(U) leader and parliamentary affairs minister
Vijay Kumar Choudhary
on Tuesday advised leader of the opposition
Tejashwi Prasad Yadav
to refrain from making political comments on sensitive matters such as the conferral of
martyr status
within the armed forces.
The remark came after RJD leader Tejashwi wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah, alleging discrimination against personnel from paramilitary forces. In the letter, he wrote, "All the soldiers of the Army, Air Force, Navy and paramilitary forces (CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF, SSB, Assam Rifles, etc.) make the supreme sacrifice for the security of the country. But it is sad that there is clear discrimination in the honour, compensation and other facilities given to the martyrs who sacrifice for the motherland after martyrdom.
" He called for equal recognition and benefits for martyrs from all uniformed services.
Responding to this, Choudhary said, "Category-wise standards have already been set by the Government of India for granting martyr status. In such a situation, it is not appropriate to raise unnecessary questions on this subject."
He said it was inappropriate to politicise "extremely sensitive matters like Operation Sindoor," adding that the Centre had already held two all-party meetings to brief political leaders on the issue.
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Tejashwi, however, maintained that martyrdom does not always occur immediately in conflict situations. "In war-like situations, many times the martyrdom of soldiers does not happen immediately. They become martyrs a few days after the incident. Keeping these things in mind, their facilities should be expanded. The govt should take serious initiative in this matter," he urged.
Meanwhile, Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Tuesday called on the Centre to disclose the number of soldiers from Bihar who have died in recent military confrontations with Pakistan. Kishor made the statement while speaking to the reporters in Saran district after meeting the family of BSF sub-inspector Mohd Imtiyaz, who was killed earlier this month in Jammu & Kashmir.
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