Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi/Kathmandu: Army Chief General VK Singh has spoken out on the controversial media report on the alleged unauthorised movement of two Army units towards Delhi in January.
Speaking to The Hindu, General Singh described the movement as “routine exercises” and stated that the Army was not bound to notify the government for such movement.
“Notify for what? What was happening? We keep doing this so many times,” he said.
The Army Chief also rubbished the linkage drawn by The Indian Express in its report that the troop movement happened on a day when General Singh had moved the Supreme Court in connection with his date of birth row. He called the linkage drawn as “fables of a sick mind”.
The Army Chief, who was on a tour to Nepal, gave the interview at Nepal Army's 11th Brigade base, ahead of returning to Delhi.
Calling the report on troop movement “absurd and deplorable”, General Singh said, “There are so many theories doing the rounds. There was a newspaper story which said it was being done at the behest of a Central minister. Sections of the bureaucracy can be feeding wrong inputs. They have made a mountain out of a molehill… God knows who all may be involved, nor do I want to waste time thinking about it.”
“I had mentioned it last month itself that, you know, tomorrow there will be exercises — and a big story will be made out of it. It is like this. When there is general suspicion, you can do anything. Funny ideas can be planted,” he added, referring to another interview he had given to a magazine early March.
Commenting on the reported unease that the January 16 troop movement caused in the government, General Singh said one or two units should never bother anyone.
“It was not as if the whole of the armoured division was marching towards Delhi. This is just a figment of imagination,” he said.
First Published: Saturday, April 07, 2012, 09:28