Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced flak from the Congress party on Monday after he questioned the decision to bomb Mizoram in 1966 during his reply to the no-confidence motion in Parliament.
Modi said that Congress should answer whether it was the Indian Air Force that bombed Mizoram in 1966, and asked if the people of Mizoram were not citizens of India. He also said that the Congress never made any attempt to heal the wounds of the people of Mizoram.
Jairam Ramesh, a senior Congress leader, responded to Modi’s comments by saying that the 1966 decision was an “extraordinarily tough” one that was made to deal with secessionist forces in Mizoram.
He said that Indira Gandhi, who was Prime Minister at the time, saved Mizoram from breaking away from India and that she also started negotiations with the rebels that led to a peace accord in 1986.
Abhishek Singhvi, another Congress leader, said that if Indira Gandhi had not taken tough action in 1966, Mizoram would have seceded from India with the support of Pakistan and China.
He accused the BJP and its ministers of being “casual and irresponsible” on matters of national security.
The criticism from the Congress party comes at a time when Modi is facing increasing scrutiny over his handling of the situation in Manipur.
The state has been in the grip of violence for several months, and the BJP government has been accused of failing to protect the people.