Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey/Files)
The release of footage on the surgical strikes of 2016 triggered a political war of words, with the BJP Thursday rejecting the Congress’s allegation that the government was politicising the strikes and accusing the Opposition party of demoralising the armed forces.
Addressing a press conference, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that only terrorists in Pakistan would be happy at the Congress’s criticism of the Narendra Modi government. “The people who will be most happy with the statement of Congress leaders are the terrorists in Pakistan. Congress will get a certificate from some terrorist organisations of Pakistan just like Ghulam Nabi Azad got the certificate from Lashkar-e-Toiba,” Prasad said. “Is the Congress’s only commitment to demoralise the armed forces?”
Rejecting the allegation that the Modi government was politicising the strikes, Prasad said that if the BJP wanted to draw political mileage, then a video purportedly showing the Army’s operation in PoK would have been released during polls in states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat or Karnataka.
Prasad argued that Army officers connected with the surgical strikes had confirmed the video’s authenticity, and questions like why the video was released at this time and where it came from were not relevant.
Meanwhile, in Panaji, former defence minister and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar rejected the allegation that the surgical strike footage was released just months before elections. “I don’t think the government has released it. Somehow, some people may have managed to get a small bite of it. So that’s all. Let it be shown. Why are you going into the issues of how it has come, why it has come? Some people asked me about elections. Elections are quite far, so it is not exactly for the elections,” he said.
Asked about the source of the clips, Parrikar said he was convinced the “defence ministry was not behind the leak”.
“Pakistan did not comment on our claim on surgical strikes… If they accept it they have to retaliate against it. So they have their own limitations. Our opposition, some, not all, doubted. This (footage) is adequate proof for that,” he said.
On the Opposition, he said, “I think they should realise their mistake. I don’t know whether apology is the right word for it. But they should henceforth, in matters which concern national interest and the armed forces, be very careful in commenting…”
Pakistan rejects video clips
Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday rejected video clips circulated in the Indian media of the Indian Army’s 2016 surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the border, calling India’s claim “farcical”. Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said, “I have said it before and will say it again. The farcical claims of surgical strikes is a figment of Indian imagination and nothing else! They may dream on.” (PTI)