Prez refuses to term Bofors deal a scandal

Cong happy, BJP unsure

President Pranab Mukherjee has told a Swedish daily that it is yet to be established whether the Bofors gun deal was a “scandal”.

As the interview generated a buzz, the Congress welcomed his remarks. But BJP president Amit Shah said at a press conference: “I will not comment on the President’s statement.”
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar described the quality of Swedish Bofors guns as “good”, but refused to comment on Mukherjee's remarks.

“I do not make any statement on the President's statement. If you ask me about the quality of Bofors guns, they are good,” he told reporters.
Senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Manish Tewari said what Mukherjee had stated was true.

In an interview with Peter Wolodarski, Editor-in-Chief of “Dagens Nyhetter”, days before his visit to Sweden, the President spoke on what has been a major contentious issue between the two nations.
“I was the defence minister of the country long after Bofors, and all my generals certified it as one of the best guns we have. Till today, the Indian Army is using it,” he was quoted as saying in the interview.

“The so-called scandal which you talk of, yes, in the media, it was there. There was a media trial. But I’m afraid, let us not be too carried away by publicity,” he went on to add.

Asked if it was a media scandal, the President said: “I do not know. I’m not describing it, you’re putting that word. Don’t put that word. What I am saying is that in media it was publicised. But up to now, no Indian court has given any decisive verdict about the alleged scandal.”

Mukherjee said: “No Indian court has given verdict on it, and no process of trial is going on. And unless somebody, some authoritative institution, describes it as a scandal and punishes, how could you say it is a scandal? You may have some doubts, you may have some suspicion, but that is not proof.”

He was replying to a question on the Bofors issue that rocked India and raised questions on the involvement of senior Congress leaders, including the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.