Former vice president Hamid Ansari said that the people had that “right to ask what we did in Balakot and what we achieved"

New Delhi: Former vice president Hamid Ansari on Tuesday stated that people have the right to question the government and seek details about the Balakot airstrikes and that the government must answer such questions. In a TV interview, the former vice president said that the people had that “right to ask what we did in Balakot and what we achieved".

Ansari was asked of Indians had the right to question the military and the government or was it unpatriotic to do so, in the wake of the Balakot airstrike carried out by the Indian Air Force and the downing of Pakistan’s F-16 fighter jet. To this, the former VP responded, “Of course it is the right of any citizen body to question the performance particularly on matters that relate to foreign policy and defence."

He said, “People have the right to ask what we did in Balakot, what did we achieve in Balakot, how has it finally played out.” He said, "There is now so much of evidence available from credible bodies outside the country that you cannot brush it under the carpet.”

On being asked if it was an issue on which people had the right to question the government on, Ansari replied in the affirmative and said, “Absolutely.”

Ansari also said that the Narendra Modi government had a mixed record in the last five years. He said that they had started on a high note but there were still miles to go for the fulfilment of all the promises. "Instead, it has been taken over by rhetoric of a certain kind which to a man of my generation is less than desirable,” Ansari, who was the vice president from 2007 to 2017, said.