MODI GOVT POLITICISING SURGICAL STRIKES: CONG

The Congress on Thursday came out all guns blazing against the Modi Government and said that it is trying to politically exploit the surgical strikes by the Army against terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in 2016.

The party reacted after some TV channels telecast a video of the surgical strikes on Wednesday night. The Congress alleged that the surgical strikes were “shamelessly politicised” by the BJP for the March 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Addressing a press chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala charged that while on the one hand the Modi Government is seeking credit for the sacrifice and valour of the armed forces, on the other it has failed to provide direction and vision to deal with Pakistan. He also accused the Government of meting out “step-motherly treatment” to the armed forces by not providing them with state-of-the-art equipment and slashing their budgetary allocation.

“Let the ruling dispensation remember that the blood and sacrifice of our brave soldiers cannot become a political vote garnering tool for the Modi Government and the BJP. On the one hand, the Modi Government/BJP indulge in seeking credit for the sacrifice of our soldiers and surgical strikes, yet the Government has utterly failed to provide the direction, the vision and the policy for dealing with Pakistan and checkmating Pak-sponsored terrorism,” he charged.

“The doublespeak of the Modi Government and the BJP stands is reflected in the step motherly treatment of our armed forces, both in terms of providing for security apparatus as also in slashing the budgetary allocation. Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen. Sarath Chand, was forced to publicly state that 68 per cent of all equipment is vintage,” he said.

Hailing the indomitable courage, fortitude and spirit of sacrifice of the armed forces, he said the Congress has unequivocally supported them and the Government in conducting surgical strikes against terrorists in Pakistan and for taking all steps for demolishing the terror infrastructure against the country.

“As the Modi Government seeks to politicise the bravery of our soldiers and their determination in conducting the surgical strikes through ‘headline management’, the Nation demands answers.

“Is the Modi Government endangering our ‘security infrastructure’? Is the Modi Government guilty of putting the life of our soldiers in danger? Is the Modi Government using our ‘soldiers’ as ‘political fodder’ — using their sacrifice for vote garnering?,” he asked.

Surjewala also asked whether former Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh were wrong when they used surgical strikes for strategic and security purposes without any chest thumping. By making public the videos of the strikes, has the Government not somehow endangered lives of armed forces participating in them as also civilians living along the Line of Control (LoC), he asked.