A day after DNA published a report about army chief General VK Singh raising concerns about India’s lack of preparedness for war in a letter to prime minister (PM) Manmohan Singh, the opposition came down heavily on the Union government on Wednesday. Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu held a copy of DNA in the Rajya Sabha and asked if India’s defence preparedness was in such a sorry state as mentioned by the army chief.
“These are serious charges,” Naidu thundered as Rajya Sabha chairperson Hamid Ansari tried to stop him from reading aloud excerpts from the report. The House was adjourned for some time, but when it assembled again, BJP leader Prakash Javdekar criticised the government for neglecting the country’s defence requirements.
From the outset, defence minister AK Antony was more perturbed about the leakage of the report than the facts mentioned in the letter and concerns raised by the army chief who retires in two months. There was silence in the treasury benches when Antony said the defence ministry was aware of the letter and would react to it at “an appropriate time”.
After Antony had his say, leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley voiced concern about the country’s defence preparedness. He said he wanted to avoid an “acrimonious” debate on such a sensitive issue and hoped that the government was paying due attention to issues raised in the letter. He also raised concern about the leakage of the letter.
Later, senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, JD(U)’s Shivanand Tewari and Pyarimohan Mahapatra of the BJD also questioned the government on how the letter reached the newspaper. “We may say that we want to avoid acrimony, but the matter is already in public domain as the letter has appeared in the press,” Yechury said.
Parties like the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) demanded that the army chief be sacked. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said that Gen Singh is frustrated. “It was an expression of his frustration,” he said. His views were echoed by minister for overseas affairs Vyalar Ravi. Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi observed that in matters related to national security, everyone should exercise restraint.
The DNA report has shaken the government at the highest level. The PM who returned from Seoul was scheduled to speak on the letter during the post-lunch session. It reflected how seriously the government treats the letter now that it is in public domain. However, uproar in the Lok Sabha over Telangana prevented the PM from speaking in the Rajya Sabha.
During the afternoon briefing, BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad was extremely critical of the handling of the defence ministry by the UPA government for the past several weeks. In a critical appraisal of the government’s skirmish with the army chief, Prasad said: “It is evident that though armed forces are under civilian control in our democracy, that equilibrium seems to have been disturbed. It requires political management not only by the defence minister but also by the highest leadership.” He said the government must ensure that defence preparedness and procurement take place without “compromising integrity”.
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