Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 25: The Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has accused the BJP government at the centre of letting loose the intelligence bureau sleuths on those who had joined the “Bharat Jodo Yatra” which entered Delhi on Saturday.
Jairam Ramesh on Sunday claimed that the ‘IB’ had been interrogating people who have interacted with Rahul Gandhi during the Yatra. “The spookes have been asking all sorts of questions and also wanting copies of memoranda submitted to him. There’s nothing secretive about the Yatra but clearly Modi and Shah are rattled,” the Congress leader said.
Congress’ Vaibhab Walia on Sunday said he filed a complaint at Sohana police station after some ‘unauthorised people’ entered one of the containers on December 23. “Informally I gather they were state intelligence people,” the Congress leader said.
Apart from many eminent personalities from different walks of life, many organisations, and workers’ unions met Rahul Gandhi during the yatra. On Saturday, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan joined the walk and said he joined the walk as an Indian.
The Congress accused the BJP of trying to stop the Bharat Jodo Yatra, using many tactics and the latest being the Covid pandemic. Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote to Rahul Gandhi asking him to consider stopping the yatra amid fresh health concerns triggered by a surge in Covid cases in China.
Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, has expressed concern over India’s preparedness in meeting a joint challenge from China and Pakistan on India’s two borders considering the close relations between the two countries. In a conversation with some army veterans, Gandhi said China and Pakistan were together and could be planning a ‘surprise’ for India. “If there is any war, it will be against both of them,” Rahul Gandhi was heard saying in the video which was released on Sunday.
“India’s border situation is linked with the international situation and the border situation is changing… We used to have two enemies – China and Pakistan and our policy was to keep them separate,” Rahul Gandhi said adding that this was the idea behind the foreign policy. “When Rajiv Gandhi ji went there, he also tried that these two (Pakistan and China) do not get together. Earlier, people used to say there should be no two-front war. Then came the concept of a two-and-a-half-front war — China, Pakistan and terrorism,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“Now there is only one front because China and Pakistan are together not only militarily but economically as well,” Rahul Gandhi said adding the examples of Gwadar, the Belt and Road Initiative. “China’s economic system is advancing very fast while our economic situation is going downhill after 2014,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“There is disturbance, fights, confusion and hatred inside our country. We still have the mindset of a two-and-a-half-front war. We don’t have the mindset of joint operability or cyber warfare. India is now extremely vulnerable. China and Pakistan are both preparing a surprise for us. That is why I keep repeating that the government cannot keep quiet. The government must inform the entire country what happened on the border. And we have to start taking action today, though we should have started five years ago,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“If we don’t take immediate action, the country will be hurt. I am extremely concerned about what is happening on the borders of Arunachal and Ladakh. And I think Galwan and Doklam are linked and they are part of a Chinese strategy to sooner or later hit us jointly with Pakistan,” Rahul Gandhi added.
Rahul Gandhi’s statement comes amid a row over his earlier ‘pitai’ remark where he said Chinese soldiers thrashed Indian troops in Tawang on December 9. In the video, Rahul Gandhi was seen saying expressing his respect and love for Indian Army. “I don’t just have respect for you but also love and affection for you. You defend this nation. This nation would not exist without you,” Rahul Gandhi said.