Congress red-faced: Digvijaya Singh questions surgical strikes

The Congress distanced itself from Singh’s comments, with senior leader Jairam Ramesh saying they “do not reflect the position” of the party. The party’s discomfort was visible during the Yatra later when a reporter, who asked Singh about his remarks on Pulwama, was pushed aside by Ramesh who said, “Don’t divert.”

Singh’s remarks on the surgical strikes were particularly embarrassing for the Congress, given that Lt General D S Hooda (retired) was the Northern Army Commander in September 2016 when Indian troops carried out the operation on terror launch pads in the wake of the Uri terror attack. Following his retirement, Hooda headed a Congress task force on national security in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Hooda said the military should be kept out of politics and doesn’t “have to provide proof to each and every person”.

“I would say, just don’t politicise a military operation. It’s been done and we in the military who did it…we don’t have to provide proof to each and every person. It is best that we just keep these issues out of politics. Why is it that you need to rake it up at this stage, I can’t understand. I feel it is best to just keep the military out of political debates…in the end, it is your own institution and it is a fine institution. You don’t want to see it getting into political debates for no rhyme or reason,” Hooda said.

On Monday, raising the Pulwama attack while addressing a public meeting during the Yatra in Jammu’s Satwari area, Digvijaya said, “40 CRPF jawans were killed… why were they killed… The CRPF D-G had also said that they should be airlifted because Pulwama is a sensitive zone. Modi did not allow that.”

He said, “Pulwama is a sensitive zone where every vehicle is inspected. One vehicle comes from the opposite direction and rams the CRPF vehicle. How did this happen? How did this lapse happen? No report on this has been presented in Parliament.”

Referring to the surgical strikes, he said, “They say that there was a surgical strike in which several people were killed. No proof has been provided… This Government runs on lies… I haven’t seen bigger liars than them so far.”

The Congress leader also accused the Government of not being interested in the restoration of peace in J&K. “The Government does not want a solution to the Kashmir problem, it wants to keep it alive so that there are movies like ‘Kashmir Files’ made on it,’’ he said.

Referring to the abrogation of Article 370, he said the Government had claimed that the move will end militancy and empower Hindus in J&K. However, the militancy, which was confined only to a part of Kashmir, has spread to areas of Jammu, he said while denouncing the recent terror attacks at Dhangri in Rajouri and Narwal in Jammu.

Following Singh’s remarks, Ramesh posted on Twitter: “The views expressed by senior leader Digvijaya Singh are his own and do not reflect the position of Congress. Surgical strikes were carried out before 2014 by UPA government. Congress has supported & will continue to support all military actions that are in the national interest.”

Responding to Singh’s remarks, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the country “will not tolerate” if Congress leaders “speak against the armed forces”. “Rahul Gandhi and the Congress hate PM Modi but it seems they have been blinded by the hate to an extent that their dedication to the country has withered away,” he said.

Asserting that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress “don’t have trust in our brave armed forces”, Bhatia said “they repeatedly raise questions and insult the citizens of India and our armed forces”.

Bhatia said Congress leaders had tried to deflect attention from Pakistan after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, as well. He claimed that the Congress had then blamed “home-grown terrorism” and tried to give a clean chit to Pakistan.

While this is not the first time Singh has asked for proof of the surgical strikes, he is not the lone Congress leader to do so, either. The initial reaction of the Congress in 2016 was to welcome the Army action. But, with the BJP trying to hardsell the operation as an achievement of the Modi Government, the party changed tack and argued that it was not the first time that the Army had conducted such strikes.

The Congress and its senior leaders had referred to dates from the UPA-II years when the Army reportedly conducted similar operations. In the midst of the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said multiple surgical strikes took place during his tenure, too.

Digvijaya Singh, at the time, had said that UN Observers and its official spokesperson had disputed India’s claim, and “we should do everything to prove them wrong and to protect the credibility of our armed forces”.

Other Congress leaders, too, asked the Government to furnish evidence to clear doubts about the strikes. Rahul Gandhi attacked the Government while arguing that he had no reason to disbelieve the Army’s statement. He accused Modi of “profiteering” from the soldiers’ sacrifice and “hiding behind their blood”.

Modi and the BJP have used such views to target the Congress, accusing it of questioning the bravery of Indian soldiers and insulting them.

The Congress was again put on the defensive after the February 2019 Balakot airstrike, following the Pulwama attack. In March 2019, Sam Pitroda sought “more facts” and proof of the death toll in the air strike. The Congress was forced to distance itself from those remarks, as well, saying they had “nothing to do with the opinion of the party”. —(With PTI)