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| After damaging the nation, Defence Minister takes a U-turn | | Murder of brave hearts in Poonch | | Neha
JAMMU, Aug 9: National mood's effect: Sonia Gandhi's right hand man and Defence Minister AK Antony whose August 7 Parliament statement on the massacre of five Indian soldiers in Chakan-da-Bagh area of Poonch district last Monday night had angered the nation on August 8 under pressure from below took a complete U-turn and held Pakistan Army responsible for the attack. On August 7, Antony told the Parliament that terrorists, along with some other in Pakistan Army uniform ambushed the Indian patrol party and killed five soldiers and injured one.
Cornered by the opposition's relentless attack, Antony on Thursday made a fresh statement in Lok Sabha and blamed specialist troops of the Pakistan Army for the attacks along the Line of Control. "It is now clear that the specialist troops of Pakistan Army were involved in this attack. India's restraint should not be taken for granted. The strength and capacity of our army should never be doubted," he said.
It would be appropriate to reproduce here the full text of his statement. It reads: "The brutal and unprovoked attack on an Indian patrol on our side of Line of Control (LC) on August 6, 2013 outraged us all. When I reported the incident to the House, it was Government's obligation to report the facts as we knew them at that point of time, and my statement was based on the available information. Since then the Chief of the Army Staff has visited the area and gone into the details of the matter. It is now clear that the specialist troops of Pakistan Army were involved in this attack when a group from the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) side crossed the LoC and killed our brave jawans. We all know that nothing happens from Pakistan side of the Line of Control without support, assistance, facilitation and often, direct involvement of the Pakistan Army".
It further read: "Those in Pakistan who are responsible for this tragedy and the brutal killing of two soldiers earlier this year should not go unpunished. Pakistan should also show determined action to dismantle the terrorist networks, organizations and infrastructure and show tangible movement on bringing those responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attack in November 2008 to justice quickly. Naturally, this incident will have consequences on our behaviour on the Line of Control and for our relations with Pakistan. Our restraint should not be taken for granted; nor should the capacity of our Armed Forces and resolve of the Government to uphold the sanctity of the LoC ever be doubted".
It would have been better had the Defence Minister made this statement on August 7 in the best national interest. By not doing so or by making a statement that caused furore across the nation, he simply helped Pakistan to promote its anti-India cause. |
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