Political leadership can't be denied credit for surgical strikes: Parrikar
Panaji, June 28 : Goa Chief Minister and former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said the existing political leadership which took the "strong decision" to go ahead with the the 2016 surgical strikes across the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, cannot be denied credit.
Parrikar, who held the Defence portfolio when the surgical strikes took place on September 29, 2016, said footage which has been broadcast by national news channels was only a fraction of the actual evidence of the strikes.
"Ultimately, the exercise has been carried out by armed forces and the credit goes to the armed forces. But you cannot deny credit to the political leadership which took the strong decision," Parrikar told a channel at the State Secretariat on Thursday.
"It was an extensive operation which was carried out after extensive planning and preparation. It could only happen, I think, because the leadership of the Prime Minister was very crucial... The Prime Minister supported the decision right from day one.
"For me, while taking a decision, of course the Prime Minister's support was there, was also if this escalates... If this goes out beyond the intended limited operation and if there is retaliation, then what? We had to prepare ourselves for any eventuality. Our planning does not only talk about the small operation, but detailing about complete fall-out in case something goes wrong. That was the important part for me," he added.
When asked if the Congress should apologise for being critical of the operation and questioning its very veracity, Parrikar said: "I think they should realise their mistake. I don't know whether apology is the right word for it. But they should henceforth, in matters which concern national interest and the armed forces, should be very careful while commenting."
The Chief Minister also said that scoring political brownie points over the surgical strikes was "demeaning" to the armed forces.
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Eight persons killed 17 injured in knife attack in China
Beijing, Nov 16: Eight persons were killed and 17 injured in a knife attack at a vocational school in east China's Jiangsu Province on Saturday, local police officials said.
The attack took place at around 6:30 pm at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in Yixing City.
The 21-year-old suspect, surnamed Xu, was caught at the scene and he confessed to his crime, according to a statement released by the public security bureau of Yixing, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the police, Xu, a graduate of the school this year, returned to the school to vent his anger for not receiving his graduation certificate due to failing exams and for dissatisfaction with his internship pay.
Rescue efforts are underway and police are further investigating the case, the report said.
This is the second attack on civilians this week.
On November 12, thirty-five people were killed and 43 injured when a man ploughed his car into a crowd of people at a sports centre in Zhuhai city.
Police who detained a man called Fan said his actions stemmed from his dissatisfaction with the property division outcome of his divorce.
Expressing concern over the incident, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged all-out efforts to treat the injured.
Car ramming incidents, besides knife attacks on civilians, have been taking place periodically in China in recent months. The incidents are routinely blamed on disgruntled elements by security officials.
