India mourns dead soldiers, unites in grief

NEW DELHI: Thousands of mourners across India attended funerals on Saturday for some of the 49 soldiers killed in a suicide bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir as a round-the-clock curfew remained in force in part of the restive region.

The paramilitary troops were killed on Thursday as explosives packed in a van ripped through a convoy transporting 2,500 soldiers in the Himalayan region, the deadliest attack in a three-decade-old armed conflict.

TV stations showed coffins wrapped in Indian flags being carried by thousands of people across their hometowns, such as Gaya in the east and Unnao in the north, after the bodies were flown to New Delhi late Friday where Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid a wreath.

India has accused Pakistan of harbouring the militants behind the attack, which has sparked nationwide outrage and some public calls for war against the nuclear-armed rival to avenge the killings.

Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947, with both the countries, which have fought three wars, claiming it in its entirety.

Two buses of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the 78-vehicle convoy were targeted by the bomber on a key highway in the Pulwama district, just outside the main city of Srinagar.

The Pakistan-based Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility, and the vehicle was driven by a known local militant named Aadil Ahmad, alias Waqas Commando.

The powerful blast reduced one of the buses to a heap of mangled debris. Pictures showed bodies and body parts strewn all over the highway.

“I feel proud of the martyrdom of my son. I expect the government of India to avenge the killings,” Brish Soreng, father of one of the soldiers, told reporters.

Modi on Friday warned that those responsible had made a “big mistake” and would pay a “very heavy price”.

India is garnering diplomatic support after the attack and has vowed to “isolate” Pakistan diplomatically in the international community, saying it has “incontrovertible evidence” of Islamabad’s role.

Pakistan has rejected the allegations.

US National Security Advisor John Bolton called his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, promising to work with India to “ensure that Pakistan cease to be a safe haven for JeM and terrorist groups that target India, the US and others in the region,” according to a readout released by India’s foreign ministry on Saturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that terror groups who perpetrated the Pulwama attack, that left 49 CRPF troopers dead, cannot hide and “will be punished” as the security forces have been given a “free hand” to tackle them.

Paying tributes to two CRPF troopers from Maharashtra — Nitin Rathod and Sanjay Rajput from Buldhana — and others killed in the deadly attack on Thursday, Modi said the country has “complete faith and pride” in our soldiers and security forces and their sacrifices will not go in vain.

“Wherever the terror groups and the perpetrators may hide, our security forces will flush them out and punish them,” Modi said amid cheers from the gathering of farmers and women.

When and how to accomplish this has been left to the security forces, he said but appealed to the people of the country to be “patient” and repose confidence in the armed forces “as the terror perpetrators shall not be spared at any cost”.

Sharing the outrage of the entire nation, he said: “We are deeply pained by what has happened. Every drop of blood of our slain soldiers shall be avenged.”

Without naming Pakistan, Modi said that now, “the neighbouring country” has become synonymous with terror. “It has sheltered terrorism, but today it is on the verge of bankruptcy.”

He reiterated in both Dhule and Yavatmal that “the sins committed will not be forgiven or left unpunished”, referring to the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed which allegedly operates from safe havens in Pakistan.

— with inputs from IANS