‘Problem not with Kashmir, but our government’s security arrangements’: Wife of Surat bank manager who was killed in Pahalgam
Shital Kalathiya sharply criticised the Union government Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil, who came to pay homage at Shailesh Kalathiya’s funeral.
3 min read
Shailesh Himmat Kathaliya was working as a manager at the State Bank of India in Andheri. (Express Photo)Shital Kalathiya, wife of bank manager Shailesh who died in the terror attack in Pahalgam, burst out at Union Jal Shakti minister C R Paatil who came to pay homage at the funeral on Thursday.
She demanded justice and criticised the government for “not providing security to tourists”.
Shailesh Kalathiya, a 44-year-old manager at the State Bank of India branch in Mumbai, had gone on a holiday with his wife and two children along with a colleague’s family when he was shot dead on Tuesday.
In videos of their interaction, Shital Kalathiya is heard telling the Minister, “What kind of a government do we have? You are defaming Kashmir, but there is no problem with Kashmir, the problem is with our government’s security arrangements. There was not a single military man present at the tourist spot in Pahalgam, which had a large number of tourists, and there were no medical facilities either.”
She is heard saying, “VIPs get convoys for security…is there no value of the life of taxpayers?… Army officials at the base camp, instead of extending help, were asking us, ‘Why are you going there (Pahalgam) in the first place?’ I have lost my life’s most valuable person and my children (have lost) their pillar of support. I don’t want the future of my kids to spoil…Even after paying taxes, when my husband was in urgent need of medical treatment, there were no facilities. I want justice. I just need an answer from the government about what they will do now. My husband is not the only one who died, there were a lot more people who were killed in front of their children.”
“The government should think about work for their future…My daughter wants to be a doctor, my son an engineer,” she said.
Paatil was accompanied by Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi, State Education Minister Praful Pansheriya and other leaders.
Kalathiya’s body reached Surat late Wednesday and was received by Paatil, Sanghavi, Pansheriya, Surat city BJP MP Mukesh Dalal and several other BJP MLAs and leaders, at the airport.
The body was later kept in the morgue of the Surat Municipal Corporation-run SMIMER hospital before it was brought to Kalathiya’s uncle’s house in Mota Varachha for the rites on Thursday morning.
The body was then taken to the cremation facility at Kathor by the family members to carry out the final rites.
You May Like
Photos
