Rahul Gandhi’s remarks about ’10 per cent of India controlling the Army’ was slammed by Rajnath Singh . The Defence Minister accused the Congress MP of trying to divide the armed forces and said firmly that “the Army has no religion or caste”.
Campaigning in Bihar, before voting tomorrow in the first phase of the Assembly election, Singh said, “Rahul Gandhi is trying to create anarchy by demanding reservations in defence forces.”
Singh hit out at Gandhi for trying to ‘drag the Army into politics’ and criticised him for comments that have been seen as pushing for quotas for different communities within the armed forces.
“There should be a reservation. We (i.e., the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party) are supporters of reservations… we have given to the poor. But the Army? Our soldiers have only one religion – ‘sainya dharma‘,” he said, referring to the military code of conduct.
“There is no other religion besides this. Don’t drag our Army into politics. Whenever this country has faced a crisis, our soldiers have raised India’s head high by demonstrating bravery.”
Singh ripped into Gandhi for ‘discriminating based on caste, sect, or religion, and said, “This politics of caste, sect, and religion has caused great harm to the country. Our thinking is that all sections should be uplifted. We don’t want to discriminate.”
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta also hit out at Rahul Gandhi.
“It is these parties that have been doing caste politics for years… and now they are dragging the Army into this. It is a matter of great shame…” she said, taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi’s foreign trips, a well-worn attack tactic for the BJP. “To those who go abroad and speak ill of the country… who raise questions about the Army, who compromise India’s security…” she trailed off ominously.
Rahul Gandhi kicked up a row Tuesday after he said the Army is ‘under the control of 10 per cent of the country’s population (referring to the so-called upper castes)’.
Campaigning in Bihar’s Aurangabad, he said, “… only 10 per cent of the country’s population (i.e., the ‘upper castes’) get opportunities in corporate sectors, bureaucracy, and the judiciary… even the Army is under their control.”
“The remaining 90 per cent – backward classes, Dalits, scheduled tribes, and other minorities – are nowhere to be seen,” he said, echoing calls for social justice and equal opportunities he has made over the past year, particularly over the opposition’s demand for a national caste census.
This is the first time he has mentioned the military in this context.
But it is not the first time he has made eyebrow-raising comments about the Army.
In August he was reprimanded by the Supreme Court over a comment – “Chinese troops are thrashing Indian soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh” – made during his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’
The comment was in reference to the India-China military face-off in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang sector in December 2022. He 2,000 sq km of Indian territory had since been occupied by China, and he blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for the “surrender”.
But a bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice AG Masih took strong exception to the remarks. “How did you get to know that 2,000 sq km of Indian land has been taken over by China? If you are a true Indian… you won’t say all of this” Justice Datta rebuked Gandhi.
