Where's the 56-inch chest? Congress asks Modi govt on BSF jawan's killing

BSF head constable Narender Singh was tortured and brutally killed by Pakistani Rangers on September 18.

NEW DELHI: The Congress party on Thursday launched a blistering attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and questioned its peace overtures after a BSF jawan was brutally tortured and killed by the Pakistani forces.

Criticising the BJP government, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, ''Kahan gaya 56'' ka seena aur kahan gayi laal aankh? Kahan gaya 1 ke badle 10 sar laane ka vaada? Govt is worried about the corrupt but not jawans. Modi ji uses Army for his political gains but doesn't think of their security. Nation demands answers you'll have to answer.''

Kahan gaya 56'' ka seena aur kahan gayi laal aankh?Kahan gaya 1 ke badle 10 sar laane ka vaada?Govt is worried about the corrupt but not jawans. Modi ji uses Army for his political gains but doesn't think of their security.Nation demands answers you'll have to answer: R Surjewala pic.twitter.com/k54Tf89vId — ANI (@ANI) September 20, 2018

Continuing his attack, Surjewala said, ''First Hemraj, now Narendra Singh. Pakistan murdered him barbarically. What is the government doing? Modi ji doesn't your soul call you out?''

The Congress spokesperson also posted a question to the PM on Twitter in connection with the jawan's brutal murder.

''Modi ji, soldiers are India’s soul. Narender Singh was tortured for 9 hours, eyes gouged out, legs cut, throat slit & shot by Pak. Narender paid his debt to ‘Mother India’. Question is - Instead of sending “cricket bats” to Pak, when will u bat for our soldiers?'' Surjewala tweeted.

Modi ji,

Soldiers are India’s soul.

India’s soul, Narender Singh, was tortured for 9 hours, eyes gorged out, legs cut, throat slit & shot by Pak.

Narender paid his debt to ‘Mother India’.

Question is -Instead of sending “cricket bats” to Pak, when will u bat for our soldiers? pic.twitter.com/56PDOTGEmb — Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) September 20, 2018

The angry reactions from Surjewal came hours after BSF head constable Narendra Singh, who went missing after an exchange of fire with Pakistan in Jammu's Ramgarh sector on September 18, was later found dead. 

The slain BSF jawan's throat was slit by the Pakistani troops, a government official was quoted as saying by PTI.

After the ''brutal'' and "unprecedented" incident, the security forces issued a "high alert" across the entire IB and the Line of Control (LoC).

The Border Security Force lodged a strong complaint with its counterparts - the Pakistan Rangers.

Official sources said the body of BSF Head Constable Narender Kumar also bore three bullet wounds and could only be retrieved from a spot ahead of the Indo-Pak fence after over six hours as the Pakistani side "did not respond" to the calls to maintain the sanctity of the frontier and ensure that the BSF search parties were not fired upon.

The Pakistan Rangers were reportedly asked to take part in a joint patrolling to trace the missing jawan, but they only came up to a point and cited water-logging issues in the area that prevented them from undertaking a coordinated action.

The BSF then waited for the sun to set and launched a "risky operation" to bring the jawan's body back to the post.

Officials in the security establishment said the incident of brutality with the jawan, probably a first at the IB, was taken "very seriously" by the Government and the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) is also expected to take up the issue with its Pakistani counterparts.

They said since the BSF patrol party that went ahead of the fence to cut the tall "sarkanda" grass to clear the field was first fired upon at 10.40 AM on Tuesday.

Hectic phone calls and communication exchanges went on throughout the day from the Indian side to across the border in order to locate the body of the jawan, who was first declared missing. 

Interestingly, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had on Monday said that the heads of Pakistani soldiers are being cut-off, but they are not being displayed.

"Kaat to Rahe Hain, Display Nahin Kar Rahen (heads are being cut off, but are not being displayed)," she said.

Sitharaman made these remarks during an interview to a television news channel.

The terrorists are not allowed to infiltrate into the country. They are being eliminated right at the borders, she added.

However, this was not the first time that the Pakistani forces had given an ''inhuman and barbaric treatment'' to the Indian soldiers.

Last year, the Pakistani forces had killed two Indian soldiers and mutilated their bodies after a targeted attack on frontier posts in Jammu and Kashmir - an act which was described as ''despicable'' by the Indian Army.

The slain soldiers were identified as Naib Subedar Paramjit Singh, a junior commissioned officer (JCO) with the Army’s 22 Sikh Regiment, and Head Constable Prem Sagar of the BSF’s 200 Battalion.

The 42-year-old Singh was from a village in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, while Sagar was a native of Deoria in Uttar Pradesh.