‘History of using army against fellow citizens’: Assam CM Himanta Sarma hits back at Congress on Manipur
Congress had accused Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his remarks on the army in wake of the situation in violence-hit Manipur.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday hit out at the Congress over its X (formerly Twitter) post accusing him of insulting the Army.
On Saturday, Congress had posted,"Narendra Modi's favourite Himanta Biswa Sarma has insulted the Indian Army. He said Army cannot do anything. It is not the first time when BJP leaders have questioned the valour of our forces. Modi himself has called army weak in the past. Treachery runs in their blood".
Sarma sought to clarify his remark and shared a clip of a press briefing on Manipur issue. In the clip, the Assam chief minister was asked a question on Rahul Gandhi saying that the Indian Army can stop ‘nonsense’ in Manipur in two days.
"It would take the Indian Army two days to put an end to the "nonsense" going on there, he said and added “There are reasons for the PM not being able to go to Manipur. I don't want to speak about them publicly”, Rahul Gandhi had said.
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“That is the wrong thing. The Indian Air Force did that in Aizawl. They spreaded bomb and violence came down. Today, Rahul Gandhi is saying the Indian Army should stop the violence. It means, they should open fire on civilians. Is it his prescription? How can he say that? Army will not be able to solve anything. They can only temporarily bring some peace in the given situation. But solution has to come from heart, not from the bullets”, Sarma is heard saying.
On Sunday, the Assam CM launched a fresh attack on Gandhi. “Deploying the Army to settle internal disputes is not the organisation's primary mandate. The Army’s main responsibility is to protect our motherland from external threats and, of course, from proxy wars. Solutions to our internal problems should come from within, through compassion and understanding”, he said.
“Your Royal Family has a history of using the Army against our fellow citizens and spraying bullets on them - be it in Aizawl (1966) or in the Holy Akal Takht (1984) . The pain and agony of which, remains till date”, Sarma added.