BJP demands apology from defence minister AK Antony on army statement

NEW DELHI: BJP has demanded an apology from Defence Minister AK Antony for his ‘shifting positions’ on the attack on Indian soldiers along the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir and ‘refusal to acknowledge’ the involvement of the Pakistani army.

As the government appeared to shift its position on Wednesday, a day after Antony told Parliament that the attack was carried out by “people dressed in Pakistan army uniforms”, BJP repeatedly disrupted proceedings in both Houses and later moved a privilege motion against him in the Lok Sabha for allegedly misleading the country. In a press statement, the Army had said its patrol was ambushed by a Pakistan Border Action Team close to the LoC in the Poonch sector. Approximately 20 heavily armed terrorists along with soldiers of the Pakistan army had carried out the attack on Tuesday, the Army said.

The minister’s statement provided an opportunity to Pakistan to get away by claiming that the attack was carried out by “non-state actors”, the BJP said. “AK Antony has let the country down. He should apologise to India,” said Sushma Swaraj, the Leader of the Opposition. BJP leader Yashwant Sinha alleged that Antony had changed the statement after the prime minister’s approval. “I had issued a breach of privilege notice against the defence minister for misleading the House and altering the statement of the Indian Army. According to this, he was not behaving like the Defence Minister of India but rather as that of Pakistan and I brought this up in Parliament,” Sinha said.

That BJP was not prepared to give up its aggressive stand on the issue was clear when it continued with its demand for an apology from Antony when the food bill was introduced in the House in the afternoon. “Food security is important, I agree. But border security is equally important,” Swaraj said.