As the country goes to polls on April 11, Congress’ attempts to undermine the country’s armed forces doesn’t seem to stop. Congress manifesto insinuates the Indian armed forces of committing sexual violence. The manifesto speaks of amending the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) that gives special powers to the security forces in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast.
So Armymen do rape and murder according to Congress’ spokesmen @rsssurjewala , aur kitna giregi ye party minority votes ke liye? pic.twitter.com/4X3tUHjbFG
— Amit Kumar ( Modi Ka Parivar ) (@AMIT_GUJJU) April 8, 2019
Now, Congress leader and spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala has reiterated the party’s stand on AFSPA and made a veiled accusation on the country’s armed forces of committing rapes and murders. In an interview with the ABP News, Surjewala has again indicated that the armed forces do commit crimes such as rape and murder in the areas they are deployed in. This is sheer shame on the part of the party to outrightly pass such comments about the Indian Armed Forces.
The manifesto states, “Amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in order to strike a balance between the powers of security forces and the human rights of citizens and to remove immunity for enforced disappearance, sexual violence and torture.” Not only is the manifesto highly demoralizing and anti-armed force, but also threatens India’s defence to a huge extent. The threat from all the borders is imminent and the armed forces have been successful in eliminating it to a certain extent.
It seems that the Congress leadership is either unaware of the intricacies of terrorism or is simply ignorant of the same. The AFSPA was enacted in order to effectively empower the members of the armed forces deployed in disturbed areas to carry out their functions smoothly and efficiently.
Such demoralising statements by the heavyweights of the party show that the Congress party has no confidence in the country’s armed forces. The Congress on various previous events has also undermined the power of the armed forces. How does the Congress party plan to stop the infiltration and insurgency?
While the Congress party is busy in demoralising the armed forces, the nation’s PM is standing up for them. In an interview to Rahul Joshi, group editor-in-chief of Network18, PM Modi hit out the Congress party and accused them of demoralising the country’s armed forces and going soft on terror. PM Modi said, “We are on the verge of eliminating terrorism. Terrorists are demoralised; we are winning a psychological war against them. Instead (of backing such efforts), the Congress manifesto is soft on terror. Their views on the Army are similar to those of Pakistan. No patriot will tolerate this language. Their manifesto talks about removing AFSPA. This amounts to removing weapons from a soldier’s hands. Is this right?”
PM Modi very well brought out points that the army is rather serving as protectors of human rights violation. It is sad to see that Congress could not pick up these points. He said that the Indian Army has been part of the UN peacekeeping force. A party that, according to PM Modi, that ruled for 50-60 years should not use such language for the army.
The Congress manifesto speaks about various other additions like “Law of Asylum” which might lead to legalizing many illegal migrants inside the country. Surjewala questioned whether the BJP government would be fine if women were raped and thus hinting the armed forces of committing heinous crimes. Surjewala also had the audacity to question the morality of the Indian Armed Forces as he put question marks on the country’s brave and dauntless soldiers who risk their lives every day saving the nation. The Congress party could go no less in stripping off the armed forces of its respect and PM Modi’s comments on the interview shows the difference in the mindset of the two parties.