Shah hits out at Rahul over comments against PM Modi
Home minister challenges Cong leader to debate, brings up 1962 war
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah has accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of making remarks “liked by” China and Pakistan amidst a simmering Sino-india border dispute, and said his government is ready for a debate on the issue in Parliament.
In an interview with news agency ANI, he said the government is capable of handling antiindia propaganda, but pointed out it is “painful” that the former president of the Congress party engaged in “ochi rajiniti (shallow-minded politics)” at a time of crisis.
Shah particularly took exception to a June 21 tweet by Gandhi that claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi ceded ground to the Chinese, and referred to him as “Surender Modi”. “#Surender Modi” trended on Twitter after Gandhi’s post.
“It is a matter of self-introspection for him [Gandhi] and Congress that his hashtag is being taken forward by Pakistan and China...it is a matter of concern for Congress that the hashtag of their leader is being encouraged by Pakistan and China. You say what China and Pakistan like,” Shah told ANI.
Shah said his government was not afraid of a debate. “There will be Parliament session. Come if you want to debate. Let all be discussed — from 1962 to today. No one is afraid of debates,” he said, referring to the 1962 war when large tracts of land were occupied by the Chinese when a Congress-led government headed by the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was in charge.
Shah also said it was not the appropriate time to comment on the situation at the Line of
Actual Control, and “briefings were ongoing and that he would answer if need arose”.
Shah’s interview came on a day Gandhi took to Twitter again and asked: “When will there be talk of the nation’s defence and security?”
Gandhi and his party have been critical of the Centre’s handling of the border situation, calling for transparency on the part of the government, and alleging that China grabbed India’s land.
The allegations and counterallegations erupted after the June 15 face-off between India and China along the contested border in eastern Ladakh. Twenty Indian Army soldiers and an undisclosed number of Chinese troops died in an ugly brawl in Galwan Valley, ratcheting up tensions between the neighbours amidst a military build-up on both sides.
In his ANI interview, Shah said that under Modi’s leadership, India would win the war against the corona virus disease and deal with its border troubles with China successfully.
“You are saying the country will win the two battles against corona and China under the leadership of Mr Modi . ... Isn’t it a fact that in three months only, India reached the fourth number in terms of coronavirus cases and these are continuously increasing? This government has no intention, no policy, no direction, no thought and no way to fight the coronavirus,” Congress spokesperson, Randeep Singh Surjewala, said.
“Coming to China, the Prime Minister is saying no one has occupied Indian territory. Isn’t it a fact that Chinese army has occupied Galwan Valley where 20 Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives?” he asked.