War of words broke out between the BJP and Congress over classified 1962 war report being made public by an Australian journalist.
The saffron party accused the Congress of nurturing a similar mindset since the 1962 Indo-China war, for the humiliating defeat of which then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is held responsible, till today when issues concerning the armed forces were treated non-seriously.
The Congress, however, hit back saying the BJP was playing politics over a sensitive issue like the country’s security.
Referring to the Henderson Brooks report, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said: “The Congress-led Government, PM Jawaharlal Nehru and Defence Minister Krishna Menon did not take cognizance of armed forces’ needs and hence there was a gap not only of communication but requirement and preparedness. Therefore, India had to suffer a humiliating defeat.”
He said the Congress did not take lessons from history and there was a question mark on the country’s defence preparedness. “Then it was a Congress Government. And today it’s a Congress-led Government. Both are guilty of not giving enough attention to the very important issue of national security,” Javadekar said.
The BJP leader alleged that every defence procurement was a scam under the Congress government.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said his party would like the entire report to be made public as it was important to know who did what wrong. “More than 50 years after (the war) the nation must know who did what wrong.”
The BJP even promised to make the 50-year-old report public, if it came to power. Ironically, the saffron party did not make the report public during its six-year regime before the Congress came to power in 2004. The BJP too had faced a tough time when the Kargil war happened.
The Congress blamed the BJP for its handling of the Kargil war, when intruders made way into Indian territory. The Congress said the saffron party was playing cheap politics ahead of the Lok Sabha polls on the issue of 1962 war.