logo
People will oppose him for disrespecting Indian military: Giriraj Singh slams LoP Gandhi ahead of Bihar visit

People will oppose him for disrespecting Indian military: Giriraj Singh slams LoP Gandhi ahead of Bihar visit

Hans India06-06-2025
In a scathing attack on Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi ahead of his visit to Bihar, Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Friday accused him of disrespecting the Indian security forces and aligning rhetorically with India's adversaries, declaring that people will not support him.
Speaking to reporters, Giriraj Singh said: 'What will happen during the Bihar visit?"
"The person visiting Bihar is someone who opposes India's military and has worked to defame the Indian military worldwide. They have even insulted the security forces' valour, which is an act of treason. Their language resembles that of Pakistan,' he alleged.
Taking the rhetoric further, the Minister accused LoP Gandhi of questioning the armed forces and mocking national pride.
"He raises doubts over our military's courage, that is an act of betrayal. His language mirrors Pakistan's. People will oppose his visit, and in the upcoming elections, why would anyone vote for someone who doesn't respect the military or the nation?' Singh remarked.
He also contrasted LoP Gandhi with former leaders who united across party lines during national crises.
'In 1971, when the Indian Army won, did Indira Gandhi win or did the Army win? Atal Bihari Vajpayee, despite being in Opposition, said there's only one party now, India. But this man mocks the bravery of the nation. Such a person deserves to be boycotted,' Singh said.
Echoing similar sentiments, BJP's Bihar State President Dilip Jaiswal criticised the Congress party's move to label Rahul Gandhi as 'Jan Nayak.'
'This is laughable. On the soil of Bihar and in this country, the only true 'Jan Nayak' is Karpoori Thakur. We have always honoured him with that title. The Congress is trying to snatch that identity and impose it on Rahul Gandhi, which will never be accepted,' Jaiswal asserted.
'Karpoori Thakur will always remain Bihar's 'Jan Nayak'. No one else can claim that legacy. The people of Bihar will not tolerate this political appropriation,' he added.
LoP Gandhi's visit to Bihar comes at a crucial time as both the BJP and Congress intensify their political narratives ahead of the next round of elections.
He will be on a day-long visit to Bihar on Friday during which he is scheduled to interact with several women's groups in the Gayaji district and attend a function in Nalanda, among other programmes.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

P Vasu: He fought for freedom, and against Emergency
P Vasu: He fought for freedom, and against Emergency

Hindustan Times

timea few seconds ago

  • Hindustan Times

P Vasu: He fought for freedom, and against Emergency

P Vasu might be 102 but still moves about his house in Cheruvannur in Kerala's Kozhikode district with the help of a walker, reads at least two newspapers a day, and watches television news with great intent, trying to keep himself informed of what's happening in the country. P Vasu: He fought for freedom, and against Emergency Born in January 1923, Vasu got a whiff of nationalistic sentiments early when his father took him to hear Mahatma Gandhi when the latter visited Kozhikode in 1934. He was just 11 then, but by the time he was in his late-teens in 1942, Vasu found himself leading an agitation by the Congress in his native Cheruvannur on the sidelines of the Quit India movement. That year, he was arrested and sentenced by a judge to three-and-a-half months in jail , where he was tortured. In 1943, Vasu had to go underground in erstwhile Madras for over nine months after the police attempted to put him in preventive custody in connection with a case of a bomb threat on Farook bridge. 'I had nothing to do with it but because I was jailed previously, my name was on the police list and I had to go into hiding. It was an extremely tough period,' Vasu told HT over phone. After Independence, Vasu joined the socialist party and was given its membership by stalwart Jayaprakash Narayan in Kozhikode. His strong beliefs in socialist ideals earned him the nickname among locals -- 'Socio Vasu'. In 1951, the then Madras presidency, under which the Malabar region in Kerala fell at the time, offered 10 acres of land in Wayanad and ₹2,000 to several freedom fighters including Vasu. But he refused to accept. 'Jayaprakash Narayan told us that we fought for the country's freedom, not for financial gains. Accepting it would have gone against my socialist ideals,' said Vasu. In 1975 during the Emergency, Vasu was beaten by the police for picketing the local post office. He spent 23 days at the Kozhikode Medical College hospital for treatment. In 1997, on the 50th anniversary of independence, Vasu was felicitated in Delhi by then President KR Narayanan. Is he happy about the present state of the country? 'No,' came the reply. 'It is not the India we envisioned in 1947. We are losing our secular ideals,' he said.

Tarachand Jain: I am happy with the country's progress
Tarachand Jain: I am happy with the country's progress

Hindustan Times

timea few seconds ago

  • Hindustan Times

Tarachand Jain: I am happy with the country's progress

Born on December 12, 1925, in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district, Tarachand Jain aspired to become a teacher, just like his father. However, his life took a dramatic turn when he was dismissed from his school at 17 for participating in the Quit India Movement in 1942. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Jain joined the freedom struggle and was imprisoned for six months. Tarachand Jain: I am happy with the country's progress An athlete and long-time supporter of the Indian National Congress, Jain expressed concern over the party's current state. 'I am happy with the country's progress — be it access to water, road construction, housing for the poor, or improvements in education. But I feel distressed about the Congress's condition due to weak leadership,' he said. Jain is also disappointed with the growing influence of caste and religion in politics. 'When we fought for freedom, we were united by a dream of a united India—free from divisions based on caste and religion. Even after 78 years of independence, political parties continue to promote reservation and division. Progress should not only be material but also mental and social,' he said.

HT Archive: A call to forge a sense of national identity
HT Archive: A call to forge a sense of national identity

Hindustan Times

timea few seconds ago

  • Hindustan Times

HT Archive: A call to forge a sense of national identity

I propose to speak bluntly and sincerely about the state of the nation 50 years after Independence. I would be dishonouring the memory of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and of his mentor, Mahatma Gandhi, if I try to be economical with the truth. Citizens celebrate India's independence from British rule in the streets of erstwhile Calcutta. (Getty Images) Those of us who have lived through the earlier days of free India, when the entire nation was looking forward with zeal and fervour and with a sense of national pride, cannot but look upon the present times with deep anguish and distress. The only achievement of Indian democracy has been that it has survived unfractured for 50 years. The achievement is all the more creditable, since no other democracy has had such diversity in unity, or was such a mosaic of humanity. All the great religions in the world have flourished in India. We have 15 major languages written in different alphabets and derived from different roots and for good measure, our people whom you can never call taciturn express themselves in 250 dialects. In 1950, we started as a Republic with three inestimable advantages. First, we had 5,000 years of civilisation behind us –– a civilisation which had reached 'the summit of human thought' in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson. We had a superb entrepreneurial spirit, honed over a century of obstacles. Secondly, whereas before 1858, India was never a united political entity, in that year, the accident of British rule welded us into one country, one nation; and when Independence came, we had been in unified nationality for almost a century under one head of state. Thirdly, our founding fathers, after two long years of laborious and painful toil, gave us a Constitution which a former Chief Justice of India rightly described as 'substance'. Unfortunately, over the years we dissipated every advantage we started with, like a compulsive gambler bent upon squandering an invaluable legacy. For the first 40 years, successive governments imposed mindless socialism on the nation, which held in thrall the people's endeavour and enterprise. They respected the shells of socialism state control and state ownership while the kernel, the spirit of social justice, was left with no chance of coming to life. We shut our eyes to the act that socialism is to social justice what ritual is to religion and dogma is to truth. The most persistent tendency in India has been to have too much government and too little administration, too many laws and too little justice, too many public servants and too little public service; too many controls and too little welfare. The picture that emerges is that of a great nation in a state of moral decay, of which corruption and indiscipline are two of the several facets. In the land of Mahatma Gandhi, violence is on the throne today. Mobocracy has too often displaced democracy. The contribution of modern India to sociology has been Bandh –– the closure of an entire city by militant rowdies. If I am asked to name one curse which deserves to be regarded as the greatest curse of India, I would say it is casteism. Unfortunately, divisiveness has become the Indian disease: Communal hatred, linguistic fanaticism, regional fealty, and caste loyalty are gnawing at the vitals of the unity and integrity of the country. To the growing army of terrorists and professional hooligans, caste or clan, creed or tongue, is a sufficient ground to kill their fellow citizens. National integration is born in the hearts of the citizens. When it dies there, no army, no government can save it. Interfaith harmony and consciousness of the essential unity of all religions is the very heart of our national integration. The soul of India aspires to integration and assimilation. The day will come when the 26 states of India will realise that in a profound sense they are culturally akin, ethnically identical, linguistically knit and historically related. The major task before India today is to acquire a keener sense of national identity, to gain the wisdom to cherish its priceless heritage, and to create a cohesive society with the cement of Indian culture. Edited excerpts of an article written by eminent jurist and author Nani A Palkhiwala that appeared on August 15, 1997.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store