Digvijaya Singh questions surgical strikes, BJP accuses Congress of insulting armed forces in 'hate' for Modi

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh Monday questioned the authenticity of surgical strikes by the Indian Army in 2016 against militant launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, terming these claims of the Modi government as “bogus”.

Nearly two weeks after a fidayeen (suicide) attack on an Army base near the LoC in north Kashmir’s Uri area of Baramulla district that left 18 soldiers dead, New Delhi on September 28, 2016 announced that it conducted surgical strikes against militant launch pads across the LoC in PoK, and inflicted “significant casualties”.

While addressing a public rally in Jammu on Monday, the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh said, “They (Centre) talk about surgical strikes and that they have killed so many of them (militants) but there is no proof. The Centre is ruling with the help of lies. I want to tell you that this country belongs to all of us.”

Singh, who is part of the “Bharat Jodo Yatra” of Rahul Gandhi, claimed that February 14, 2019 Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 paramilitary CRPF personnel were killed, could have been averted had the vehicle, which launched the attack been checked properly.

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“Why did they die? The CRPF director had sought for airlifting of CRPF personnel from Srinagar to Delhi as the area was a sensitive one but PM Modi declined the request. Why did he decline?” he questioned. Until now, the information related to the incident had not been given in the Parliament, nor are people aware of it.

However, another senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh distanced the party from Digvijay’s assertions.

“The views expressed by senior leader Digvijaya Singh are his own and do not reflect the position of Congress. Surgical strikes were carried out before 2014 by the UPA government. Congress has supported & will continue to support all military actions that are in the national interest,” he tweeted.

Digvijay’s assertions came just a week after Mustafa Kamal, a top National Conference (NC) leader and brother of party chief Farooq Abdullah raised questions on the “intention of the Modi government behind the tailored Uri and the Pulwama attacks.”

The BJP launched a sharp attack on the Congress, saying that such comments show that the Rahul Gandhi-led foot march across the country is Bharat Jodo Yatra only in name while he and his party colleagues are working to "break" the country. It is essentially "Bharat todo yatra", BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said.

He said, "India will not tolerate if they speak against armed forces. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress hate PM Modi but it seems they have been blinded by the hate to an extent that their dedication to the country has withered away."

He said Congress leaders had raised questions about the surgical strikes soon after the Indian Air Force said it hit terror camps in Balakot in Pakistan in retaliation to the Pulwama terror attack.