Why insult Indian Army by not naming China? Rahul asks Rajnath

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (June 17) hit out at Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, asking why he “insulted” the Indian Army by not naming China in his tweet about 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 he continued 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 is the PM silent?
Why is he hiding?

Enough is enough. We need to know what has happened.

How dare China kill our soldiers?
How dare they take our land?

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 17, 2020

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

If it was so painful:

1. Why insult Indian Army by not naming China in your tweet?
2. Why take 2 days to condole?
3. Why address rallies as soldiers were being martyred?
4. Why hide and get the Army blamed by the crony media?
5. Why make paid-media blame Army instead of GOI? https://t.co/mpLpMRxwS7

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 17, 2020

The Defence Minister, in a tweet on Wednesday morning, had 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.

और हाँ @rajnathsingh जी,

चीन का नाम तक लिखने से भी क्या डर है?

और हमारे कितने सैनिक शहीद हुए हैं?

आप ये क्यों नही बता रहे?

क्या चीन ने हमारे सैनिक अगवा किए हैं?

गुमराह मत करें, सामने आ जबाब दें।#WeakestPMModi https://t.co/kOhqxICMzt

— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) June 17, 2020

Surjewala also alleged that had the prime minister and defence minister taken time from addressing rallies and toppling opposition governments and focused 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.”