New Delhi: The Congress on Monday criticised Union minister Gen VK Singh (retd) for his reported “insensitive” remark comparing the demand for compensation to the families of 39 Indians killed in Iraq to demanding “biscuits”, and said it was “heartless, shameful and reprehensible”.
The minister, a former Army chief, was speaking to the media at the Amritsar airport, where he arrived by a special transport plane, accompanying the coffins of the Indians killed in Mosul after they went missing in 2014.
“Ye biscuit baantne wala kaam nahi hai, ye admiyon ki zindagi ka sawal hai, a gayi baat samajh mein? Main abhi elaan kahan se karoon? Jeb mein koi pitaara thodi rakha hua hai (Giving compensation is not like distributing biscuits. It is the question of people who have been killed. Hope you get that. How do you expect me to announce now? I am not carrying carrying a chest full of money with me,)” General Singh snapped when asked about compensation. On jobs for relatives of the workers, the minister said “this is not a game of football.”
The statement made by VK Singh drew criticism from the opposition.
Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said Singh’s remark was like rubbing salt on the wounds of those dead.
“39 Indians were killed in Mosul, Iraq, as Modi Government continuously misled the families and Nation. Minister, V.K. Singh is now rubbing ‘salt on the wounds’ by rubbishing the demands for compensation for the families as akin to demand for ‘biscuits’. Heartless, Shameful and Reprehensible!,” he wrote on Twitter.