Under attack from the Opposition over the killing of soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch sector, the government Wednesday said that violation of the Line of Control (LoC) will not be tolerated.
Both Houses of Parliament witnessed uproarius scenes over contradictory statements by defence minister A.K. Antony and the Army on the incident.
“The defence minister has made a very clear statement in the House. Now the Army chief has gone to the spot and whatever information he will get that will be conveyed to the nation. Violation of the LoC will not be allowed at any cost,” minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajiv Shukla said outside Parliament House.
Asked about BJP’s demand for an apology from Antony over the contradictory statements on border incident, Shukla said, “I do not agree with it. In their (NDA) time, Parliament was attacked. What did they do?” Shukla asked and added, “BJP was trying to get political advantage out of it.”
However, BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said, “This is not NDA vs UPA. The issue here is what has happened on the border is not being told to Parliament. Actually the defence minister has provided an alibi to Pakistan government and that’s the issue.”
Attacking the Opposition for demanding an apology from Antony, Congress leader Renuka Choudhury said, “It has reached the level of absurdity in public life. The defence minister has categorically clarified that he had certain facts Tuesday that he articulated. He said the Army chief is seized of the matter and further information is being gathered and he would share that with you. In the meantime, for BJP to talk like that to spread insecurity in the country and say that we have given a clean chit to Pakistan is nothing short of slanderous talk.”
Choudhury said, “I am a daughter of a soldier and I do not think soldiers want to hear things like this. They fight for the country at the borders. We are deeply concerned over those killings and we are proud of our jawans.”