Delhi: The Congress on Monday slammed Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for 'crediting RSS for operations along the LoC'.
Addressing the press, Congress leader Manish Tiwari said, "Why is the Defence Minister of India always so over the top. Today he has credited the RSS for operations along LoC. Earlier he had said, like Hanuman, Army did not know their process until I pointed out to them their strength and capacity. He even said, such an action has never been done before and it was the first surgical strike by the Army."
"Then they blame others for politicising the operations along the LoC. We would like to ask BJP and Defence Minister, did PM Lal Bahadur Shastri go to an RSS shakha? Did defence minister Yashwantrao Chavan go to an RSS shakha? Did PM Mrs Indira Gandhi go to a shakha? Did defence minister Jagjivan Ram go to a shakha? Did Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw go to a shakha? Did General JS Arora go to a shakha? What kind of a Defence Minister do we have?" he asked.
Tiwari added, "For all the chest thumping of the BJP, the strategic restraint of the UPA, where we conducted operations but kept our lips zipped, actually yielded results. In J&K, in 2004 281 security personnel, 700 civilians & 976 terrorists were killed by 2009, incidents down 1/5th. Security personnel deaths were down to 78, civilians were 71 and terrorists 239. Because infiltration was stopped. In 2014, incidents were down to 222, forces killed down to 47, civilians 28 & terrorists 110. Therefore, policy of strategic restraint and carrying out operations to change the behaviour of the deep state in Pakistan showed results."
Congress' reaction came after Parrikar was quoted as saying, "Mahatma ke goan se aane wale PM, Goa se Defence Minister aur surgical strike, equation was different, maybe RSS teaching was basic core."
Hear what he said (courtesy ANI):
Manohar Parrikar: Mahatma ke goan se aane wale PM,Goa se Defence Min aur surgical strike,equation was diff,maybe RSS teaching was basic core pic.twitter.com/viDMizWdRu
— ANI (@ANI_news) October 17, 2016
