A devastating accident in Haryana’s Mahendragarh involving a school bus that killed six students returning home from school today raised questions about the safety of the buses and a debate over who should be held responsible. Parents and locals are also asking why the school remained open on Eid, a public holiday.

Six children died and over 20 were injured when the school bus rammed a tree and overturned this morning. The driver was reportedly drunk, the police said.

The bus, whose fitness certificate had expired in 2018, belonged to GL Public School. A state road transport official has been suspended for failing to control vehicles running without proper valid documents.

State Education Minister Seema Trikha said an inquiry is being conducted to find out why the school was functioning on a holiday. She reiterated that the school should have been shut today and that a show-cause notice has been served.

“The school should not have been open today. A show-cause notice has been issued and apart from that, we have taken self-affidavits from the private schools. The schools will have to provide an affidavit of the transport vehicles stating that they function according to the transport rules,” she said.

Asked who bears the responsibility for such a tragedy, the minister said the schools and the bus owners will be held accountable along with the driver.

“If (school bus) drivers are found to be drunk, schools will be held responsible. In such cases, FIRs will be filed against the driver, the school’s principal, and the bus owner.”

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh fired an emotional barb at the Congress, revealing he had been barred from attending his mother’s funeral while in prison during the Emergency.

”I was not given parole to attend my mother’s last rites during the Emergency and now they (Congress) call us dictators,” he told news agency ANI in an exclusive interview. 

Last year Mr Singh said he had been jailed for 18 months after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared the Emergency. “I was sent to jail at 23 during Emergency,” he had said.

The Emergency imposed by the then Congress government has often been used by the party’s critics, primarily the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, to launch political attacks.

EP-158 with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh airs today at 5 PM IST

”I was not given parole to attend my mother’s last rites during the Emergency, and now they (Congress) call us dictators,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reveals the untold story of the 1975 Emergency

“If… pic.twitter.com/ORSOey6Fav

— ANI (@ANI) April 11, 2024

In June last year Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the 48th anniversary of that period, said the 21 months were an “unforgettable period” that was “totally opposite” to the Constitution.

“I pay homage to all those courageous people who resisted the Emergency…  ‘dark days of emergency’ remain an unforgettable period in our history, totally opposite to the values our Constitution celebrates,” the PM – who has been accused by the opposition of imposing an “undeclared emergency”, said.

READ | “Unforgettable Period…”: PM Modi On Emergency Anniversary

The year before that Mr Modi – then on a visit to Germany – addressed Indian diaspora and called the Emergency a “black spot on the vibrant history of India’s democracy”.

Ahead of this Lok Sabha election too the Prime Minister referred to the “dark days of Emergency”, attacking the Congress for not having any faith in democracy any more.

At an election rally in Uttarakhand, Mr Modi said, “Prince of the royal Congress family (referring to Rahul Gandhi) said if the country elects Modi for a third time, it will go up in flames. Those who ruled the country for 60 years… are now talking about setting it on fire…”

Rajnath Singh’s Warning For Pakistan

Mr Singh also repeated an offer of assistance to Pakistan – to combat terrorist activities on its soil. “If Pakistan feels incapable, India is ready to cooperate to stop terrorism,” he said, and also warned Pakistan that if its aim is to destabilise India by using terrorism, it would have to suffer the consequences.

READ | “If Pakistan Feels Incapable…”: Rajnath Singh’s Offer In War On Terror

The firm remark came a week after he warned Pakistan India will pursue any terrorist who tries to escape by crossing the border. “If they run to Pakistan, we will enter Pakistan to kill them,” he had said.

That remark was in the context of a report by British daily The Guardian, which accused Delhi of conducting targeted killings of terrorists in Pakistan. 

The government has dismissed the claim as “false and malicious anti-India propaganda”. 

READ | “False, Malicious”: Centre Blasts Report On Targeted Pak Assassinations

In its rebuttal, the External Affairs Ministry quoted its boss, S Jaishankar, who recently asserted that targeted killings on foreign soil is “not the Government of India’s policy”.

The ministry’s denial was mentioned in The Guardian’s report, which claims the Indian government “has implemented a policy of targeting those it considers hostile to India”.

The Guardian claimed up to 20 such killings were carried out since the attack on Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama in February 2019, in which 40 men were killed.

Meanwhile, Mr Singh’s offer echoed those made in 2018 and 2019.

On that occasion the Defence Minister also warned Islamabad that a “situation will be created (if it did not act on its own) that terror bases will be wiped out from Pakistan and no power will be able to stop this”.

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The accident took place on the Haridwar National Highway when Uwaish (32) and his wife Sakra Begum (30) were on their way to meet a relative in a nearby village on the occasion of Eid