Rahul Gandhi targets Modi government in Lok Sabha over General Naravane’s revelations on Chinese intrusion
Kharge says Modi government is avoiding questions on national security
The sunday mail
New Delhi: The Lok Sabha was adjourned three times on Monday amidst heavy uproar and accusations, as Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi strongly criticized the government, raising the issue of national security and citing revelations from former Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane’s autobiography regarding the Chinese intrusion in eastern Ladakh on August 31, 2020, and the events that followed.
Rahul Gandhi was referring to a recent magazine article that quoted excerpts from former Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane’s book. The article stated that on the night of August 31, 2020, Chinese tanks had reached within a few hundred meters of Indian positions on the Kailash Range. Understanding the gravity of the situation, General Manoj Naravane immediately called Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, seeking clear instructions for action, but received none.
During the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wanted to read this excerpt from former Army Chief General Naravane’s book, but he was repeatedly interrupted by the ruling party. As soon as Rahul Gandhi raised this issue, members of the ruling party, including Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, repeatedly tried to disrupt his speech.
Rahul Gandhi said that reading this excerpt from General Naravane’s book would reveal who is a patriot and who is not.
Amidst the continuous disruptions, the senior Congress leader alleged that Naravane’s book has not been allowed to be published. He asked what was written in General Manoj Mukund Naravane’s book that the Modi government was so afraid of that they were not even allowing it to be read in the House. He said the government is trying to hide a truth from the people of the country, a truth that every soldier in the country already knows.
Rahul Gandhi explained that the book mentions events from the time when Chinese tanks were trying to capture Indian positions on the Kailash Range. The senior Congress leader also said that he was not going to raise this issue, but since a BJP MP questioned the patriotism of the Congress party, he wanted to draw attention to this important issue of national security.
When Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asked him to confine his remarks to the President’s address, Rahul Gandhi retorted that he was speaking entirely on that subject, as national security was a major theme of the President’s address.
Speaking on the issue again after the House reconvened following an adjournment, he expressed surprise that his remarks had prompted both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister to leave the House.
Later, speaking to reporters at Parliament House, Rahul Gandhi said that this is a matter of national security. He simply wanted to tell Parliament what General Naravane had written and what orders Rajnath Singh and Narendra Modi had given him, but the Modi government is inexplicably afraid. He further said that the country’s leader should provide direction and not leave decisions to others, but the Prime Minister did just that. He said that General Naravane has written the same thing in his book. He said that the entire Modi government is afraid that if the truth written in Naravane’s book comes out, the country will know the reality of Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh – how they let down the army when China was encroaching on our borders. He further added that it is this fear of exposure that is preventing him from speaking in Parliament.
Meanwhile, Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, said on the social media platform ‘X’ that the ideological foundation of the RSS-BJP rests on concealing facts. This is why the Modi government is avoiding serious questions related to national security in Parliament. He said that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has raised a very serious issue of national security in the House. Kharge questioned whether the country had not been taken into confidence on issues like national security and foreign policy in Parliament before. He also asked why those who talk about the “mother of democracy” are trampling on the spirit of democracy.
