Don’t drag armed forces into politics, it has only one religion of ‘sainya dharma’: Rajnath Singh hits back at Rahul Gandhi

“…90 per cent of the people in society come from sections like Dalits, ati-picchda, picchda… adivasi… But if you look at the country… The biggest corporates… You will not find anyone (from these communities)… All of them come from 10 per cent of the population; all the money from the bank goes to them, all the jobs go to them, they find space in the bureaucracy. Look at the judiciary… They have control over the Army, too,” Gandhi had said.

The Defence Minister, in his response, questioned the LoP’s intentions behind the statement, seeking to underline that the BJP is not only in favour of reservation but has also sought to provide it to the poor across caste lines.

“Congress leaders are trying to divide even the Army along religious lines. You must have read Rahul (Gandhi) ji’s statement. Doing agda, picchda (forward, backward caste) is fine; there should be reservation, even we are in favour of reservation… gave it to all the poor, the poor in different caste groups were also given reservation,” he said.

“But about the Army? On the basis of religion?… I believe this should even be discussed. Hamare sena ke jawanon ka ek hi dharma hota hai: veh dharma hai sainya-dharma, iske atirikt aur koi doosra dharma nahin hota. (The soldiers of our armed forces have only one religion: that religion is of combat/warfare duty),” he added.

What the senior Congress leader was saying, Singh said, was “not in the interests of the nation” and the armed forces need not be involved in politics.

“I want to ask my friends in Congress not to drag the armed forces into politics. Whenever a crisis has confronted this nation, our armed forces have, through the display of valour and courage, raised the forehead of Bharat further,” he said.

“Politics of jaat, dharma and panth (caste, religion and sect) has caused immense damage to the nation… And we believe that all sections of society should be uplifted. If this had not been the thinking of our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), we would not have elected two Presidents: one from the Dalit community and the other, for the first time in the history of the country, from the Adivasi community. We want to move forward with all the sections of society, not to discriminate based on jaat, dharma and panth,” he added.

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