Defence Minister and Lok Sabha in-charge of Delhi, Nirmala Sitharaman, on Thursday said the Congress-led UPA government did not take adequate steps after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. She claimed that there would have been more deterrence against such terror strikes had it been proactive.
Addressing Delhi BJP workers here, Ms. Sitharaman asked party cadre not to be affected by questions raised on the Balakot air strikes and urged them to be on the “offensive” rather than being “defensive” in dealing with the issue.
“Whatever had to be done after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks was not done by the previous government. Had it been more proactive, there would have been more deterrence,” she said.
Cites Kargil’s example
Attacking those questioning the IAF air strikes on terror camps in Balakot, Ms. Sitharaman said even during the Kargil war, Pakistan did not accept the people who laid down their lives for them. The bodies had to be buried in India as the neighbouring country did not even claim them.
“You should not expect Pakistan to give proof or accept that their terrorist centre was attacked by us. I am not citing any numbers, but you should not expect they will accept any numbers. They will never accept,” she said.
She further said that even when 26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab was caught red-handed, Pakistan never accepted that he was their national. In relation to the Pulwama terror attack, she said the government waited for 10-12 days and after getting Intelligence inputs that suicide bombers were set to launch attacks again, the IAF struck their camps in Pakistan.
“We waited for 10-12 days for Pakistan to take action against terrorists, to get them to vacate their properties, to demolish their buildings, but they did nothing,” she said.
“They were not those camps that were close to the border, but those that were deep inside their territory and we attacked them. We had Intel-based information and that is why we went. We did not go to wage a war,” Ms. Sitharaman said.
Meanwhile, reacting to “uncivilised” and “insulting comments” against the Prime Minister and him by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said, it exhibited Mr. Kejriwal’s “frustration”.
“Kejriwal must understand that just like the Prime Minister even I belong to a poor family. But I am proud of the fact that like crores of poor parents even my parents have taught me that we must respect not only our society but also serve the country...Using such unbecoming language for a person holding constitutional post shows that the person is uncultured,” he said.
