Drop Fernandes 8212; Jaya

Asserting that Vajpayee cannot say no8217; to the Opposition8217;s demand to drop Fernandes, she called for the convening of a special session of the Rajya Sabha to deliberate on the undeclared8217; war against Pakistan.

She said that she had pointed out way back in 1998, both in the co-ordination committee of the BJP-led Government and immediately therafter at the Delhi Press Club thatOsama bin Laden was training mercenaries to attack Indian territory and also that Pakistan could not be trusted.

However, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh had laughed at the reference to Bin Laden danger while Home Minister L K Advani and Fernandes had issued press statements denying Bin Laden8217;s involvement.

Accusing Vaiko of mixing up her references to Pakistan and China, she said that she had held that China must not be antagonised in the way Fernandes had done in 1998 but Pakistan was not to be trusted.

During the March 25 coordination committee meeting Jayalalitha had said that Fernandes must be shifted to a less sensitive portfolio. At that time, many voices had opposed her view which was based on information about Fernandes and how he was demoralising the armed forces and neglecting their needs. If the Vajpayee Government had paid heed to her suggestion, many gallant lives could have been saved, she said.

Quoting from her statement issued on October 7, 1998 in which she warned ofPakistani intrusion into Indian territory and the plans of Afghanistan-based terrorists for a major offensive in Kashmir, she said today it had been proved beyond doubt how right she was and how the Government had been unprepared.

Again reports about Indian Army8217;s assault on the Tuloling sector revealed that preparations could not have been made within a few days, as was pointed out by her. It must have taken at least eight months for making the arrangements of such magnitude and it revealed a pre-meditated conspiracy on the part of Pakistanis. While the mercenaries were appropriately clad, the Indian soldiers and officers struggled, revealing their total lack of preparedness. When they marched to Tiger Hills in Drass after an arduous eight-hour climb through the night, they had walked straight into a trap and had to face a volley of bullets from three sides. It was only after three days that the Army moved heavy artillery there. She wanted a special session of the Rajya Sabha to discuss these detailsthreadbare.

She said that in 1962 when Chinese troops had descended at Dhola, a Jan Sangh delegation led by none other than Vajpayee had demanded the dismissal of Defence Minister Krishna Menon on the gound that the Chinese invasion could have been halted if reinforcements had been sent on time. Today, the very same Vajpayee ruled out the convening of a special session, she said.