india

Updated: Feb 27, 2019 07:08 IST

Families of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men who died in the February 14 Pulwama terror attack welcomed Tuesday’s air strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp in Balakot, but said India should more to eliminate the scourge of terrorism and minimise troop casualties.

Forty CRPF troopers died when a suicide car bomber rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into a bus carrying men from the paramilitary force. JeM claimed responsibility for the attack.

In Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi, Renu Yadav, widow of Ramesh Yadav, welcomed the aerial strike on the JeM’s biggest terror camp, but said she would be satisfied only when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took steps to ensure that no soldier was killed in the future.

In Bahadurpur village of Chandauli district, Harikesh Yadav, father of CRPF jawan Awadhesh Yadav, said the IAF strike may bring some respite but the government should eliminate terrorism. “The army should continue taking action against terrorists to ensure no mother loses her son and no wife loses her husband,” said Awadhesh’s widow Shilpi Yadav.

Rohini Tripathi, wife of CRPF constable Pankaj Tripathi of Maharajganj in Uttgar Pradesh, also expressed satisfaction. “Action should continue till terrorism is put to an end,” she said.

The troopers killed in the Pulwama attack belonged to all parts India, from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the north to West Bengal in the east and Tamil Nadu in the south.

In Rajasthan’sNagar district, the family of Jeet Ram, said India had avenged the loss of their son. In Kota, the family of Hemraj Meena, also killed in the Pulwama attack, said the armed forces should continue to attack Pakistan. “The government should carry on the action against terrorists who have been living in Pakistan until all of them are killed,” said Ram’s father Radheyshyam Gurjar.

Mita Santra, wife of Bablu Santra, and a resident of West Bengal’s Howrah, said she supported the strike but struck a sober note. “The government has thought it right to strike and, therefore, it has struck… But it should also think a little more on how to safeguard the personnels in different parts of the country. If there is a war, many will be killed; mothers will lose their sons, children, their fathers and wives, their husbands.”