Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 22

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday lavished praise on the first President of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the leadership of India in 1971. Separately, he warned on Pakistan without naming it.

The Minister was visiting the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi on the occasion of Armed Forces Day of Bangladesh, which is observed on November 21 every year.

Rajnath Singh said, “I salute the valiant struggle of the Mukti Bahini in the war of liberation in 1971.”

Paying tributes to Rahman, Rajnath Singh said, the inspiring leadership of the first President of Bangladesh was the guiding light for the people of the country in their struggle for freedom.

The Bangladesh war of liberation was an unprecedented event in the 20th century history, the Defence Minister said.

Rajnath Singh, without naming Indira Gandhi, praised “the extraordinary leadership in India”, which rose to the occasion against all odds and limitations in 1971, in support of a nation fighting against the injustice and unspeakable atrocities.

Taking a dig at Pakistan, Rajnath Singh said, “the forces which brought untold atrocities and miseries on Bangladesh in 1971, are far from finished. They are lurking around us in different forms.”