Indira Gandhi sought US intervention to end 1971 war with Pakistan: Anurag Thakur

BJP member Anurag Thakur on Wednesday claimed in the Lok Sabha that Indira Gandhi had sought the US' intervention to stop the war with Pakistan in 1971 when she was the prime minister.

Thakur said Indian soldiers won the 1971 war, but "someone else" was declared the Iron Lady. He claimed that the war was won on the battlefield but lost at the negotiation table.

"If you dig a little deeper in history, the layers start unravelling. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had written to US President Nixon. It appears as though a supplicant was pleading before the US president," Thakur said, making a Zero Hour mention in the Lok Sabha.


He read out a letter from Gandhi to Nixon wherein she urged the US president to persuade Pakistan to desist forthwith from the policy of wanton aggression and military adventurism.

"The nation has to decide whether the government of that day was iron or an irony," Thakur said, referring to the letter dated December 5, 1971.

Congress members were on their feet, protesting against the reference made by Thakur.

The former Union minister wondered whether Gandhi did not trust the armed forces and chose to plead with the US to halt the War.

"This family is adept at bending and begging the US to ask Pakistan to end the war," Thakur said, hitting out at Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi's remarks daring the Narendra Modi government to show half the courage shown by Indira Gandhi during the 1971 war.

"Why did Indira Gandhi approach the US to end the war?" Thakur said.

He said Indira Gandhi had complained that Pakistan had launched a malicious propaganda launched in 1971 against India.

"The Congress is indulging in the same malicious propaganda on behalf of Pakistan today," Thakur said.