Hitting out further, the Assam Chief Minister said that there could not be any dispute once the Army said that the strike was conducted

On Friday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma hit out at Gandhi-scion Rahul Gandhi for expressing doubts over the surgical strikes carried out against Pakistan and demanding proof from the Indian Armed Forces.

Addressing a public meeting at Uttarakhand’s Kichha ahead of the assembly elections, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma hit out at Rahul Gandhi by asking whether his party has never sought any proof on whose son he was. Sarma attacked Rahul Gandhi for repeatedly raising doubts about India’s surgical strikes.
In his address, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Look at the mentality of these people. General Bipin Rawat was the pride of the country. India conducted the Surgical Strike in Pakistan under his leadership. Rahul Gandhi demanded proof of the strike. Did we ever ask you for proof of whether you are Rajiv Gandhi’s son or not? What right do you have to demand proof from my Army?”

Hitting out further, the Assam Chief Minister said that there could not be any dispute once the Army said that the strike was conducted.

“If our Army said that they conducted the strike in Pakistan, that means they have done it. Where is the discrepancy in this? Don’t you have trust in General Bipin Rawat? If he has said that the Army conducted the strike, that means they have done it. So why do you want proof of it? Do not disrespect the soldiers. People sacrifice their lives for the country,” Sarma said while addressing a public meeting in Uttarakhand.

The Indian Armed Forces had carried out two surgical strikes, first in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in September 2016 after 19 of the Indian Army soldiers were killed in the base camp in Uri. Again in 2019, the Indian Airforce had carried out an Airstrike following a suicide bomber attack on the convoy of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on February 14.

On both occasions, Rahul Gandhi and his party had attempted to politicise the issue and had expressed doubts over the strikes. Rahul Gandhi had tried his level best to cast aspersions around the Pulwama attack and suggested that it was an “inside job” of the BJP for electoral gain ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.