BHOPAL: Actor turned Congress politician Raj Babbar on Wednesday questioned whether the Narendra Modi government has any place for martyrs in its grand celebrations to mark three years in power.
Mocking the celebrations marking three years of the Modi regime at the Centre, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Raj Babbar said “If anyone is happy with the grand celebrations, it’s those who are in the business of event management and tent houses.”
Questioning the credentials of the Modi government on the plank of national and internal security, security on international borders and defense preparedness, the Congress leader said “during the last three years, 578 jawans of our security forces and 877 civilians have been martyred in attacks by adversaries near the international border and the LoC.
“In the last six months only, Pakistani soldiers intruded our territory and brutally murdered our soldiers thrice.”
Also, the country has reported 372 terror attacks over the last three years, with 12 major ones occurring in the last 21 months. Further, 271 security personnel have lost their lives in attacks by naxal extremists over the last three years.
“But the government of the day only fulfills its duty by just condemning these killings. Will the martyr’s kin be part of the Modi government’s grand celebrations,” said Babbar.
Raj Babbar added that even on the defense front, things have worsened. “9000 officer posts, 25,000 junior officer posts and 52,000 posts of jawans are lying vacant in the Army. But instead of filling these posts with requisite manpower, the Modi government is utilising government funds for publishing advertisements and running media campaigns for completion of three years in power.”
He added that “even the defence budget for 2017-18 when compared to the previous year is short by 8,058 crores. Besides, a sum of Rs 32,000-plus crores of the previous year’s defence budget has remained non-utilised and returned to the Centre,” claimed Babbar.
Expressing concern over the grim situation on the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter squadron front, the Congress leader said “the IAF shall have a minimum of 45 fighter crafts squadrons, but presently it only has 32 squadrons, which was never the case in ten years of the UPA regime.”
“During the UPA regime at the Centre, the government decided to get 126 Rafale fighter jets from France. But the number of Rafale fighter crafts to be purchased from France was reduced to just 36 by the Modi government, and none of the 36 Rafale jets have arrived in India,” claimed Babbar.
While dubbing, the Narendra Modi government’s foreign policy as ‘policy of leisure travel and selfies,’ Babbar said, India’s traditional allies like Russia, who never had any defense ties with Pakistan are not only selling arms to Islamabad, but also rendering arms and military training there. “China aligned to Pakistan is working on developing a trade corridor in the PoK, while even in the era of the much hyped Make in India campaign, Chinese manufactured products worth Rs 60,000 crores have flooded the Indian market,” alleged Babbar.
“Even nations like the US and Australia, whose branded products call the shots in our big showrooms have either stopped giving Visas to our unemployed youth or else cancelled already granted visas, but what’s the Modi government doing,” questioned Babbar.