Why insult Indian Army by not naming China: Rahul Gandhi to Rajnath Singh

PTI, Jun 17, 2020, 9:17 PM IST

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hit out at Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, asking why he insulted the Indian Army by not naming China in his tweet over the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.

He also asked the defence minister why it took him two days to condole the deaths and why did he continue to address poll rallies when the soldiers were being martyred.

“If it was so painful: Why insult Indian Army by not naming China in your tweet? Why take 2 days to condole? Why address rallies as soldiers were being martyred,” Gandhi asked in a tweet.

“Why hide and get the Army blamed by the crony media? Why make paid-media blame the Army instead of GOI,” Gandhi asked.

The Defence Minister in a tweet this morning said, “The loss of soldiers in Galwan is deeply disturbing and painful. Our soldiers displayed exemplary courage and valour in the line of duty and sacrificed their lives in the highest traditions of the Indian Army.”

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also attacked Singh, asking why he feared naming China in his tweet.

“What is the fear in even naming China. How many of our soldiers have been martyred. Have the Chinese abducted our soldiers? Don’t mislead, come before the country and answer,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.

Surjewala also alleged that had the prime minister and defence minister taken time from addressing rallies and toppling opposition governments and focussed on the country’s security, the Chinese would never have dared to do so.

Twenty Indian Army personnel including a colonel were killed in the clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night, the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff between the two countries.

The Army initially said on Tuesday that an officer and two soldiers were killed. But in a late evening statement it revised the figure to 20, saying 17 others who “were critically injured in the line of duty and exposed to sub-zero temperatures at the standoff location succumbed to their injuries.”