Believe Army, world’s best: Manohar Parrikar
Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday went on the offensive against all those questioning the veracity of the government’s account of surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) and said that when the Indian Army says something it should be believed as they are the world’s best.
Speaking at a “Know Your Army” event organised at the Nirma University campus in Ahmedabad, Mr Parrikar said, “From the day of the strike till today, some politicians are seeking proof When Indian Army says something, we should believe it. It (Army) is world’s best, professional, brave and having a very high integrity”.
“After 18 soldiers were martyred in Uri, we had to face a lot of difficult situations. Till the 29th of September, the Prime Minister was targeted on social media and in other media. Some share of the criticism was also directed towards me,” Mr Parrikar said, and then added, “Two good things have happened after the surgical strikes. First thing is (that) except some politicians, every Indian is rising in unison and standing behind our brave soldiers. And the second thing is we (Indians) have acquired sensitivity regarding national security in a very effective way.”
Since the commandos of 4 Para and 9 Para mounted surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, Mr Parrikar, who has been vociferous in defending the military action, said, “I wonder, with the combination of Prime Minister who comes from Mahatma Gandhi’s home state, and I, defence minister, coming from Goa which never had any martial race, and surgical strikes. Maybe the RSS teaching was at the core, but this was quite a different kind of combination.”
His remarks have already triggered a row, with the Congress criticising him for giving RSS credit for the strikes and saying that he does not deserve to be the country’s defence minister.
On the continuing ceasefire violations by Pakistan, the defence minister said that the Indian Army was giving a befitting reply. “Violations are regularly taking place for the last five-six years. You can take out figures. But the only thing that has changed now is that we are giving effective reply,” he said.
To a question on security lapses, Mr Parrikar said: “When you are doing things and if there are lapses in it, then mistakes should be rectified”.