New Delhi: Rebutting the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s poetic dig, Rahul Gandhi posed a direct question, “have the Chinese occupied Indian territory in Ladakh?”
The Congress leader’s tweet taking on Home Minister Amit Shah had set off an exchange of couplets.
“Once RM (Rajnath Singh) is done commenting on the hand symbol, can he answer: Have the Chinese occupied Indian territory in Ladakh?” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.
Rajnath Singh had taken a jibe at the Congress party last evening, using its “hand symbol” in an altered rendition of an Urdu poem.
The exchange started with Gandhi targeting Amit Shah over his remark at a virtual rally about the surgical and airstrikes after the terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama showed that India’s defence policy was strong and the country knows how to protect its borders.
“India’s defence policy has gained global acceptance. The whole world agrees that after US and Israel if there is any other country that is able to protect its borders, it is India,” Shah had said.
Gandhi replied by using a couplet by legendary Urdu-Persian poet Mirza Ghalib. “Everyone knows the reality of ‘Seema’ (Border) but to keep the heart happy, ‘Shah-yad’ it is a good idea,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted sarcastic implication.
Rajnath Singh replied hours later by tweeting: “When there is a pain in the hand then get treatment, but what should one do when the hand is the pain itself.”
Gandhi has been questioning the government’s response to Chinese belligerence in Ladakh at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border between the two countries.
Tension between the two sides escalated acutely after reports of clashes between soldiers in the Pangong Lake region on May 5 and May 6.
According to sources quoted by Press Trust of India, the Chinese Army has been steadily ramping up its strategic reserves in its rear bases near the LAC by rushing in artillery guns, infantry combat vehicles and heavy military equipment.
The trigger for the face-off was China’s rigid resistance to India laying a key road in the Finger area around the Pangong Tso Lake besides the construction of another road connecting the Darbuk-Shayok-Daulat Beg Oldie road in Galwan Valley, PTI said quoting sources.
In a meeting between high military officers on Saturday, India and China agreed to “peacefully resolve the situation in the border areas in accordance with various bilateral agreements”, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
Free Press Kashmir is now on Telegram. Click here to Join.
