The Bihar government announced a sum of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the martyrs from that state who lost their lives in the Uri attack. Their announcement, hower, drew a lot of flak for the ‘meagre’ amount they offered. Suneeta, widow of Hav Ashok Kumar Singh, refused the compensation and asked, “Was my husband a drunkard who died in a drain?” The compensation was then revised to Rs 11 lakh. Now, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a sum of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of martyrs, and people on social media are enraged. Many dug out reports from September 2015 when Banerjee, or Didi as she’s popularly known, had announced Rs 10 lakh for a pilgrim from her state who lost his life in the Mecca crash accident and Rs 1 lakh each for other the 100 deceased. “Mamata gives 2 lakhs for Uri Attack martyrs. Same Mamata gave 10 lakhs for victims who were killed in Hajj accident. Long live secularism!” wrote a user. It’s not just West Bengal and Bihar government who have announced compensation for the martyrs. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced a sum of Rs 20 lakh each to the families of four martyrs from the state and Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubir Das also announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each. But Twitterati are visibly annoyed with the money offered to the soldiers’ families who lost their life for the country.
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