BJP MP apologises for remark on Army

New Delhi/Lucknow: The BJP-led NDA, which has been harping on nationalism and invoking the sacrifices of Army and security forces’ personnel, was caught on the wrong foot Tuesday when its Lok Sabha MP from Rampur, Nepal Singh, commented that it was normal for soldiers to die during combat.

“Woh toh roz marenge army mein (Those in the army are bound to die daily). Is there any country where armymen don’t die during jhagda (fighting)? Even when there is a fight in a village, one or two persons are bound to get injured,” Mr Singh told a news agency while reacting to the December 31 terrorist attack on a CRPF camp in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir in which five security personnel were killed.

Chaos prevailed in Parliament with the Opposition Congress attacking Mr Singh over his remark and seeking his apology. A red-faced BJP pulled up the legislator, who later apologised for his comments.

Another BJP legislator, Uttar Pradesh MLA Vikram Saini, meanwhile, created another controversy with his remark that “Hindustan (is) a country only for Hindus”. The BJP MLA from Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar was addressing a public meeting in his constituency on Monday when he claimed that he was a “staunch Hinduwadi”.

In the Lok Sabha, the Congress pounced on the government with party MP Jyotiraditya Scindia accusing it of failing to put in place security measures to protect sensitive defence installations even though there were similar terror strikes on military bases in the recent past, including in Uri, Udhampur and Pathankot.

“When people were celebrating (the new year), Pakistan-sponsored terrorists attacked a CRPF camp in Pulwama. Five soldiers laid down their lives. The soldiers are sacrificing their lives protecting the country but the government does not look serious in protecting them,” Mr Scindia said during Zero Hour. He also wondered why the Prime Minister was maintaining “total silence” over it. With his comments leading to outrage in Parliament, followed by the outpouring on social media, with many Twitter users suggesting they amounted to insulting the Army, Mr Singh issued a clarification and an apology. “I did not say anything to insult the Army. I have always supported the Army and promoted them. I am saddened and I apologise if they felt... But I did not say anything like that,” he said.

UP BJP MLA Vikram Saini said in his remarks that “all the land” would have belonged to Hindus had some leaders allowed the “bearded people” to go (to Pakistan) at the time of Partition. “Mai kattar Hinduwadi hu. Hamare desh ka naam Hindustan hai jiska matlab ki ye Hinduon ka desh hai. Aaj bina jaati bhed ke sabko samaan roop se laabh milta hai. Ab se pehle jitni lambi dadhi hoti thi, utna lamba cheque milta tha. (I am a radical Hinduwadi. Our country is named Hindustan, which means it is a country for Hindus. Today, irrespective of caste and creed, people get equal rights. Earlier, people with long beards (Muslims) used to get bigger cheques”, he said.

In Lucknow, UP Congress spokesman Surendra Rajput termed the two statements as ‘highly objectionable’. He said that if the BJP leadership did not take action against these two legislators, it would be presumed that they extended tacit support to the statements.

In the Lok Sabha, Mr Scindia also questioned the government’s Pakistan policy, attacking it over national security adviser Ajit Doval’s meeting his Pakistani counterpart in Bangkok last week, notwithstanding the Pakistani authorities ill-treating the family of Indian death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav in Islamabad. “What is the government’s Pakistan policy? The NSA met the Pakis-tani NSA in Bangkok after the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav was ill-treated by Pakistan. On the other hand, cross- border attacks are going on,” Mr Scindia said.

Rebutting Mr Scindia’s charges, parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar accused the Congress of trying to play politics over a sensitive issue. “We had carried out the surgical strikes. We killed around 200 terrorists in the last three years. The Congress should not play politics over a sensitive issue,” he said.