New Delhi [India], Oct. 12 : Rebuking Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's statement that "no surgical strikes were conducted in the past", the Congress Party on Wednesday said his remark is a 'direct insult to the sacrifices' made by the soldiers, who died in the line of duty.
"The Defence Minister's saying that it is the first time in 29 years that a Prime Minister has made the Indian Army realise its prowess is a direct insult to the sacrifices of hundreds of martyrs of the Indian Armed Forces and equally demeaning and insulting to the supreme sacrifices of the Kargil heroes," senior Congress leader Anand Sharma told ANI.
"I want to ask the Defence Minister what happened in Kargil, did Indian Army not realize its prowess. If he has not read history he should be taught that the Indian Army after independence has done so repeatedly," he said.
Calling Parrikar's statements as 'irresponsible and immature', Sharma said, "He is party to a propaganda, which is actually building up a hysteria and jingoism in the country, which is a disservice to India." He added that the previous government out of its maturity and wisdom did not make the report of those surgical strikes public, but the present government has chosen otherwise.
"The entire country spoke in one voice across the political spectrum, saluting our armed forces for their valour and courage for undertaking the strike.
Nobody has doubted the statement of the DGMO Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, we supported the government for the decision, but it should not have been politicised," he added.
He said, "The Prime Minister, his party president and his Defence Minister are speaking in forked tongues.
The Prime Minister said there should not be any chest thumping, but that is exactly what is happening.".
Source: ANI
