Antony should
apologise for remark on border killings: Advani
Accusing
Defence Minister A.K. Antony of making a “false” statement on Poonch killings,
the BJP leader L.K. Advani on Wednesday said he should apologise as his remarks
are intended to “exonerate” Pakistan
as government wants to continue talks. “I hold that what the ‘raksha mantri’
has said in the House is intended only to exonerate Pakistan government and absolve it
of the responsibility of killing five Indian soldiers,” Mr. Advani told
reporters in the Parliament House. Asked why the Defence Minister would make a
contradictory statement, the BJP leader said, “I have a feeling that the
government wants to continue talks with Pakistan.” He claimed that if the talks would continue
in a situation in which Pakistan
army is named for the killings, the nation would feel outraged.
Terming this a “formal
invasion” as the Pakistan
army personnel had entered “our borders and killed Indian soldiers”, Mr. Advani
said he has suggested to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath that the
statements of Antony and the Defence Ministry --
which blames Pakistan
army and terrorists for the attacks -- should be reconciled. “The Defence
Minister himself should tell the House that what the truth is and apologise
that what he said is false,” the BJP Parliamentary Party Chief said.
In
reply to a question on whether Prime Minister Singh should hold talks with
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the forthcoming U.N.
summit, Mr. Advani said, “This is no time for such talks.”
The BJP leader Yashwant
Sinha has moved a Privilege notice against Antony for misleading the House. The Lok
Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar announced in the Lok Sabha that she has received the
notice and would take appropriate action.
Mr.
Advani faulted Mr. Antony’s statement on two grounds.
Reading from the statements issued by the Defence Minister
and the one issued by the Defence Ministry, he said the latter has clearly held
the Pakistan
government and its army responsible. “The minister has said 20 heavily armed
men ambushed the Indian soldiers on our side of the LoC in the Poonch sector
while the Defence Ministry said they were ambushed close to the border,” Mr.
Advani said. He charged that Mr. Antony has also contradicted the defence
ministry when he said “20 heavily armed terrorists along with persons dressed
in Pakistan army uniforms” had killed the Indian soldiers while his ministry
had said a Border Action Team of Pakistan army had killed them.
Meanwhile, the Leader of
the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj told Mr. Nath that there is
difference in the two statements and the Defence Minister has given a “clean
chit to Pakistan”.
Mr. Advani said the army version also points out that the action of the
Pakistani forces is a “likely consequence of frustrations of terrorist Tanzeems
(groups) and Pakistan army
due to elimination of 19 hardcore terrorists near LoC and in Kashmir
recently”. Seventeen infiltration bids were also foiled this year. The senior
leader said BJP wants a clarification from Mr. Antony on the issue.
The Leader of the
Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said there should be no talks between India and Pakistan. “There is no atmosphere
for talks. You (government) are enthusiastic about the talks, but people think
otherwise. You cannot have attacks and talks at the same time,” he said.
Source:
http://www.thehindu.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment