Rajesh Pilot bombed Aizawl, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya claims; Sachin gives rebuttal

PM Modi, on August 10, during his reply to the no-confidence motion had raked up the issue saying the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had used the Air Force to bomb Mizoram.

Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Tuesday took on BJP IT Cell head Amit Malaviya for claiming that the latter's father, Rajesh Pilot, bombed Mizoram capital Aizawl in March 1966 when he was not even commissioned into the Indian Air Force.

Sharing a video from a news channel, Malviya claimed on X, formerly Twitter, that Pilot and late Suresh Kalmadi were flying the Air Force planes that bombed Aizawl on 5 March, 1966.

"Later both became MPs on Congress tickets and ministers in the government. It is clear that Indira Gandhi gave them a place in politics as a reward, and gave respect to those who carried out air raids on their own people in the northeast," he alleged.

However, Sachin rebutted Malviya's allegations and said he has the "wrong dates, wrong facts".

In his post on X attaching the certificate indicating the commissioning of his father in the Air Force, he added, "yes, as an Indian Air Force pilot, my late father did drop bombs. But that was on erstwhile East Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pak war and not as you claim, on Mizoram on the 5th of March 1966."

"He was commissioned into the IAF only on 29th October 1966!...Jai Hind and a happy Independence Day," Sachin said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on August 10, during his reply to the no-confidence motion had raked up the issue saying then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had used the Air Force.

“Weren't the citizens of Mizoram our citizens? Even today, Mizoram mourns on March 5 every year. It hasn't been forgotten till now. And Congress has hidden this fact from the country,” the prime minister had said.

Countering Modi, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh had said that Modi's criticism of Indira Gandhi's "extraordinarily tough decision" of March 1966 in Mizoram to deal with secessionist forces that drew support from Pakistan and China was "particularly pathetic".

"She saved Mizoram, started negotiations with those fighting the Indian state and finally a Peace Accord was signed on June 30, 1986. The manner in which the Accord came about is a remarkable story that reinforces the idea of India in Mizoram today. Anyone who takes their role as Prime Minister with full responsibility for the incredibly tough decisions one needs to make in that chair would never have said this," Ramesh added.