The Opposition should at least listen to Pakistan’s grudging acceptance of surgical strikes by India if it doesn’t trust the country’s forces and the Centre on the move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday in an exclusive interview with Network18.
Speaking to Amish Devgan, Managing Editor News18 UP, PM Modi said: “Congress has intense hatred for the defence forces of the country. If you remember, they had once referred to then then army chief as ‘Gali ka Goonda’. What else can you expect from someone who holds such views about the army?”
The prime minister added: “Even Pakistan does not say that surgical strikes did not happen. Pakistan’s leaders have said in their Parliament that India is conducting air strikes, surgical strikes but they are sitting idle. If they [Congress] don’t trust us or the security forces of the country, they can at least listen to what their friend Pakistan has to say.”
India’s surgical strikes found their way back to the electoral discourse when Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy raised doubts over the Indian Air Force’s action in Pakistan’s Balakot after the Pulwama attack in February 2019, saying nobody knew if it had taken place.
“…For Modi, everything is politics, everything is about winning elections. So, Modi’s thinking is not right for the country. So, the country needs to be without BJP, without Modi now. They answer everything with ‘Jai Sri Ram’. Pulwama incident is a classic example. They have failed. What is the IB doing? What is the Intelligence network doing? Modi ji attempted political benefit from the surgical strike after Pulwama incident,” Reddy said.
His remarks saw a sharp retort from the BJP. “In their (Congress’s) attempt to oppose Modi, the Congress party is questioning the bravery of the military and putting India under question on the issue of terrorism by giving clean chit to Pakistan. They are giving them a way to protect themselves at international forums from the allegations of terrorism. This is the real intention of Congress and hence they are getting support from Pakistan,” BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said.
On several occasions, PM Modi has spoken about his government’s approach of ‘Ghar Mein Ghus Ke Maara’ in his election rallies. This call from the Narendra Modi-led BJP worked wonders for the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, after people gave a resounding thumbs-up to India’s twin surgical strikes in Pakistan in 2016 and 2019.
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