All India Majlis-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has protested the government’s decision not to call his party to the all-party meeting on the border row with China.
The other parties that have not been invited to the meeting include the Aam Aadmi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Mr. Owaisi said it was “disappointing” not to be called for the meeting, at a time when national consensus and a unified response was essential. The criteria of calling only parties with five Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha members betrayed any rational explanation.
“This situation required the government to include every political party with a Member of Parliament,” Mr. Owaisi said. Crediting himself as one of the first to raise the issue of the Chinese occupation more than a month back, he said that an incursion by a foreign military was a national challenge that could be overcome only when all political parties were taken into confidence.
‘Convene Parliament’
Mr. Owaisi demanded that Parliament be convened at the earliest so that the Opposition parties may seek accountability from the ruling party. The government was bound to answer queries of representatives regarding occupation of Indian territory.
“The blame of the crisis lies solely with political, strategic and military leadership headed by you. It is unfortunate that you failed in dealing with Chinese designs,” he wrote.
He also demanded that an independent review committee be set up to look into the sequence of the events leading to the loss of Indian lives and territory on the lines of Kargil Review Committee chaired by K. Subrahmanyam. “The government must publish the committee’s findings in a white paper and make it accessible to the public. This white paper should essentially answer 11 questions”, he said.
Foremost was the question of how much Indian territory was under Chinese control since 2014. The government should clarify that if Indian soldiers were reportedly armed in the most recent stand-off, why did they not open fire following the killing of their commanding officer by Chinese forces, he stated.
