‘Think practically': Karnataka minister doubts if Pahalgam attackers asked religion
Several survivors of the horrific Pahalgam terror attack said that the terrorists asked about religion before shooting 26 people dead and injuring several others on Tuesday.
'A man who is shooting, will he ask caste or religion? He will just shoot and go. Think practically. He will not stand there, ask, and then shoot,' the Karnataka excise minister told the media.
The minister said the country is upset over the heinous attack on tourists. He went on to allege that a "conspiracy" was being plotted to paint the attack as a religious issue.
"I feel they didn't ask about religion when they were carrying out the terror attack. In case they did, there shouldn't be this madness of using such a statement to politicise the issue based on religion," the minister added.
Timmapur went on to point out that the wife of slain Karnataka businessman Manjunath's wife Pallavi had said that Muslims saved her son.
'She said that Muslims saved her son. See, as a result of the tragedy, her mind might have lost a bit of control. But overall, if you look at it, how many Muslims have saved Hindus? If you ask me, why were Muslims killed by terrorists then?" News18 quoted him as saying.
The controversy that RB Timmapur courted is the second one out of the Karnataka government in as many days about the Pahalgam terror attack. On Saturday, chief minister Siddaramaiah had said that he was 'not in favour of a war' with Pakistan.
While the CM later clarified his remarks, the BJP criticised him, with the leader of the opposition even calling him 'Pakistan Ratna'.
Timmapur's remarks also drew strong criticism from the BJP, with party spokesperson CR Kesavan calling them 'barbaric and wicked'.
"The wicked and barbaric remarks of Congress Karnataka Minister Thimmapur have insulted the integrity of the mourning families and humiliated the courageous sacrifices of our victims who were killed in the Pakistan-backed Islamic terror attack in Pahalgam. Even in this hour of national grief, the communal Congress party, which has completely forsaken and mortgaged its conscience and soul to bigoted vote bank politics of religious appeasement, is fiddling with the politics of polarisation and division," Kesavan was quoted by ANI as saying.
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