NEW DELHI: Hundreds of people from all walks of life Friday gathered at India Gate and Jantar Mantar to hold candle light marches to express solidarity with the families of the CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama attack.
Some members of the Youth Congress were detained as they attempted to march towards the Pakistan High Commission to protest against the audacious attack in south Kashmir that left at least 40 jawans dead.
From students to politicians, members of social organisations to the common folk, the crowd gathered at the two venues demanded adequate compensation for the families of the dead soldiers and that Pakistan be given a “befitting reply”
“Pakistan has to be given a strong reply,” said Om Prakash, Delhi chief of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party as he participated in the candle light march at India Gate.
“We also demand that the government announce Rs 1 crore (as compensation) for the martyrs’ families,” he added.
Amit Shukla, who too participated in the march at India Gate, said the sacrifice of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans must not go in vain as he urged the Union government to take urgent steps against Pakistan.
“Delhi Police facilitated the movement of people who gathered at India Gate in large numbers to express solidarity and pay homage to the martyrs who were killed in the attack,” Madhur Verma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) said.
There was also a protest outside the Palam technical area where the bodies of the 40 CRPF personnel were flown down from Srinagar to Delhi.
Around 100 Indian Youth Congress (IYC) members assembled at Teen Murti Marg and raised slogans against Pakistan.
IYC vice president Srinivas B V alleged that there were lapses on the part of the Union government which led to the attack.
The IYC volunteers, who planned to protest outside the Pakistan High Commission, were detained by police near Chanakyapuri Police Station at Teen Murti Marg.
At least 15 people who protested outside the Pakistan High Commission here courted arrested but were let off later, Verma said.
In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s three decades of militancy, a JeM suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district on Thursday, killing around 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.
Protests and candle light marches also took place across the national capital.
To express their solidarity with families of CRPF personnel, the doctors and nursing staff of the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital pledged a day’s salary.
The doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) also held a candle light march in the hospital campus. PTI
