Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had sought votes in the name of the Pulwama martyrs in the 2019 elections, was criticised on Thursday for forgetting the ultimate sacrifice of 20 soldiers while battling Chinese invaders as the Congress remembered the Galwan Valley clash on its third anniversary.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said: “A grateful nation pays heartfelt tributes to the supreme sacrifice made by 20 bravehearts in the Galwan Valley three years ago. The Modi government is responsible for not maintaining the status quo ante at the LAC. We have lost possession of 26 out of 65 patrolling points. We have attempted to raise this issue several times in Parliament, but the Modi government wants to keep fellow Indians in the dark.”
Kharge added: “Modi’s ‘clean chit’ to China on Galwan is responsible for China achieving its nefarious designs. This is a body blow to our national security and territorial integrity. The Modi government’s ‘laal aankh’ (red eye) has become blurred, on which it is wearing tinted Chinese glasses! As a responsible Opposition, our job is to keep the country united against the Chinese expansionist policy and to show the mirror of truth to the Modi government.”
The Congress chief was referring to Modi’s assertion while in the Opposition that India should deal with China firmly, showing red eyes, before the stunning somersault that saw him describe President Xi Jinping as his “special friend”.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said at a media conference that Modi was kowtowing to Jinping wearing a red shirt at his first meeting in Bali after the Galwan clash instead of showing “red eyes”.
Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh posted a video recalling the claim made by a former US ambassador that India wasn’t interested in confronting China. Ramesh said: “Ken Juster (US ambassador 2017-21), said it as clearly as possible: ‘The restraint in mentioning China in any US-India communication or any Quad communication comes from India which is very concerned about not poking China in the eye.’ We’ve come a long way from laal aankh.”
Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra paid tributes to the martyrs on the anniversary of the Galwan Valley clash, reiterating that India will never forget their sacrifices for the nation. Prime Minister Modi and BJP president J.P. Nadda, however, made no mention of Galwan on Thursday. While Modi tweeted about the Raja festival in Odisha, infrastructure for speed and scale under his government and wished Union minister Kishan Reddy on his birthday, there was no mention of the soldiers killed in the clash with China.
Modi tweeted about the United Nations accepting the resolution piloted by India on the new memorial wall for fallen peacekeepers, which includes soldiers from different countries. The BJP’s official Twitter handle made no mention of the Galwan Valley clash either, but defence minister Rajnath Singh tweeted paying homage to the soldiers who lost their lives.
The Congress treated the occasion as an important date, with spokesperson Shrinate asserting that the country is still in search of the truth about the Galwan Valley clash because barely four days after the incident, Modi had said “nobody has entered” India’s territory forcibly. “Without batting an eyelid, Modi spoke a lie in front of the country, saying ‘koi ghusa nahi’. China has used Modi’s statement to defend itself at formal meetings,” she said.
Shrinate added: “We were supposed to teach a lesson to China but three years lapsed and we did nothing. We instead made China our biggest trading partner. The government tried to fool the people by banning some Chinese apps. Is this justice for you? China thought it can get away with murder because of the Prime Minister’s attitude. Our soldiers fought bravely but the government is not willing to restore status quo ante. We vacated our patrolling points. And the external affairs minister says we can’t fight China because they are a bigger economy.”
