Says anyone who makes such comments is a traitor
TIA WEB DESK /NEW DELHI
Union Minister of State for External Affairs General (retd) V K Singh said the armed forces do not belong to any political party and anyone who makes such comments is a traitor to the country. “If someone says that the Indian Army is Modi’s army, then he is not only wrong but also a traitor to the country. India’s Army belongs to the country, it does not belong to a political party,” Singh said in an interview to the BBC.
At a rally in Ghaziabad on Sunday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said that while the Congress serves biryani to terrorists, Modiji’s army responds with bombs and bullets.
The Election Commission has issued a notice to Adityanath on Congress’s complaint in this regard. asking him to respond by April 5.
Without referring to Adityanath directly, Singh told the BBC, “Perhaps they do not even know what they have said. There are only one or two people who think in such a manner since they do not have anything…”
The Union minister also said politicians should not mix armed forces with political workers in their speeches. “If you talk about India’s military, talk about India’s military. Sometimes when we speak of political workers, we say ‘Modi’s Army or BJP’s Army ‘. There is a difference,” he said.
Adityanath, at a BJP rally in Ghaziabad, had said: “Congress ke log atankwadiyon ko biryani khilate thhay, aur Modiji ki Sena atankwadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai. Yahi antar hai. Congress ke log Azhar Masood jaise atankwadiyon ke saath ‘ji’ laga karke atankwad ko protsahit karti hai. Aur Modiji ke netritva mein, aaj aatankwad ko, unke thikano ko nasht aur dhwast karke aatankwad ki hi nahi, Pakistan ki kamar todne ka kaam Bharatiya Janata Party ki sarkar kar rahi hai. (Members of the Congress used to feed biryani to terrorists while Modiji’s army gives bullets and bombs to terrorists. This is the difference. People of Congress encouraged terrorism by using ‘ji’ to address terrorists such as Azhar Masood. Under Modiji’s leadership, the BJP government is not only destroying the locations of terrorists but also breaking Pakistan’s back).”
Adityanath’s remarks drew sharp criticism from the Opposition, including Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Former Navy Chief L Ramdas had also complained to the EC.
However, Hours after former Army chief VK Singh’s ‘traitor’ statement went viral, the Union minister took to Twitter on Thursday to express his anger for “misquoting” him. Singh reminded the reporter that he had coined the word “presstitutes” for such scribes.
“BBC Hindi did exactly what I meant when I had coined the word presstitute. I have a record of what I had said. It seems that either the reporter was sleeping or he intentionally made a false statement by cutting and pasting my remark,” he said, asking how much was the journalist paid to do this. Replying to Singh’s tweet, BBC has posted the “uncut video” of the interview.
@BBCHindi ने वही किया जिसके लिये मैंने presstitute शब्द दिया था । मैंने जो कहा वह मेरे पास रिकार्ड है । लगता है रिपोर्टर सो रहा था या उसने जान बूझ कर कट पेस्ट कर ग़लत बयान बनाया । वाल डन जुगल – कितना पैसा मिला ??
— Gen VK Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) April 4, 2019