3 days ago
Defeated in Field, Now Field Marshal: BJP MP Ravi Shankar Takes Dig At Pakistan For Promoting Asim Munir
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is leading the all-party delegation in the United Kingdom, ridiculed Pakistan for promoting Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir to Field Marshal despite recent military and strategic failures during Operation Sindoor, saying that despite Munir's defeat in the field, he was promoted.
In May this year, Pakistan government promoted Army Chief General Asim Munir to the rank of field marshal for his role during Operation Sindoor.
Addressing the Indian diaspora in London on Sunday, Prasad said that Pakistan's problem lies in its lack of democracy, as unelected and unaccountable military leaders have consistently seized power.
"What is the problem of Pakistan? The problem with Pakistan is that it is not a democratic country. 'Muhammad Ali Jinnah ne banaya Pakistan, wo ban gaya Generals ki dukaan, that is the situation of Pakistan. The second thing, very important, is people, leaders make the country. There, Pakistan armed forces have made a country for themselves, unelectable, not accountable, not popular sanction, but they seized power. Ayub Khan field marshal for 10 years. Mr Yahya Khan for seven and a half years, Mr Zia ul Haq for eleven years, General Musharraf for nine years… Now you have Munir, General, who was defeated in the field but became a field marshal. That is the whole scenario," ANI quoted Prasad as saying.
Accusing Pakistan of sheltering terrorists, Prasad pointed out that the 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden was caught in Pakistan. He added that the terrorists who hijacked the plane to rescue Masood Azhar have also been killed in Pakistan, along with Masood Azhar's two brothers, brothers-in-law, and sisters during Operation Sindoor.
"9/11 in America, a gentleman known as Osama bin Laden, where was he caught? You know it very well, in Pakistan, who unleashed the entire mayhem of Al-Qaeda and the attack in New York. You remember that Daniel Pearl, the journalist, many journalists are sitting here and watching, it was slit and you'll be happy to know the terrorist who slit his neck has been slit by the missiles of India in this attack. The terrorists who hijacked the plane to rescue Masood Azhar had also been killed, and Masood Azhar's two brothers, brother-in-laws, and sisters have all been killed. Why are we here? We are here to tell the world terrorism is a global cancer," he said.
He stressed that India has always sought peace with Pakistan and has never been the aggressor, but has only responded to threats by Pakistan.
"India and Pakistan have fought four conventional wars, many distinguished Indians sitting here in the front, they have seen those times. 48 First War, 65 Second War, 71 Third War, when Bangladesh was created, 99 the Kargil War. These are four conventional wars. Remember one thing, my dear fellow Indians, India was never the aggressor, India only responded. The second thing you all need to understand, we are not against the people of Pakistan, they are fine. All governments, be it the Congress or the BJP or Jawaharlal Nehru or Lal Bahadur Shastri or Indira Gandhi or Dr Manmohan Singh or Atal Bihari Vajpayee, everyone tried to have a peaceful dialogue with them. What happened? Terrorism,' Prasad said.
The Indian delegation, led by Ravi Shankar Prasad, arrived in London on Saturday (local time) as part of India's global outreach program to convey the country's firm stance against terrorism.
The delegation includes BJP MP Daggubati Purandeswari, Samik Bhattacharya, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Congress MPs Ghulam Ali Khatana and Amar Singh, former Union Minister MJ Akbar, and former Ambassador Pankaj Saran. The delegation
On April 22, twenty-six innocent people were killed and several others were injured in a terror attack by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.
Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to the terror attack, targeting nine terror infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the death of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.
