MODI GOOFS UP ON MILITARY HISTORY

The BJP keeps harping on Rahul Gandhi’s poor sense of history but PM Modi seems to be not far behind. The goof-up happened on Wednesday when -- perhaps feeling the strain of his whirlwind poll tour – the prime minister bungled on two claims he made in a speech with regard to KM Cariappa and General K Thimayya – military heroes of Karnataka.

The Prime Minister, in his speech in Kalaburagi, spoke of Field Marshal KM Cariappa and General K Thimayya. "Cariappa and Thimayya were insulted by the Congress -- this is a historical fact," the Prime Minister said. "We won the 1948 war under the leadership of General Thimayya, but after the war, the man who saved Kashmir was insulted repeatedly by Prime Minister Nehru and Defence Minister Krishna Menon."A quick fact check by NDTV revealed that the Commander in Chief of the Indian Army during the 1947-1948 war against Pakistan -- the first war fought by Independent India -- was General Sir Francis Bucher, not General Thimayya. During the war, General Thimayya led the army in operations in Kashmir, and went on to become Army Chief in 1957.In 1959, when general Thimayya was the army chief, Defence Minister Krishna Menon had rejected his views on China's military build-up. General Thimayya offered to resign, but his resignation letter was rejected by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

The Prime Minister had also referred to KM Cariappa, India's first Field Marshal and commander in chief. "The 1962 war between India and China is sad... How did they behave with Cariappa?" But the fact is that Field Marshal Cariappa had retired 9 years before the 1962 war.

The references led to a furore on twitter with many saying he had got his facts mixed up. The Congress latched onto the goof-up and advised that the Prime Minister should "brush up his knowledge of history", but the party did not get it right either. Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had to delete his tweet and post an amended version.