Congress has no respect for Sardar Patel or soldiers: Modi
Kalaburagi, May 3: Lauding Sardar Patel for forcing the Nizam of Hyderabad to merge his princely state with an Independent India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday regretted that the Congress has no respect for the country's "Iron Man" or its soldiers who guard its borders.
"As part of the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, Kalaburagi has a special place in Patel's life, as he forced its erstwhile ruler to merge his kingdom with a free India in September 1948," recalled Modi at a massive BJP election rally here ahead of the May 12 state polls.
Comparing Nizam's atrocities with the British Col. Reginald Dyer's role on April 13, 1919, in Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Punjab's Amritsar, Modi applauded local people for erecting a memorial for the martyrs.
"This (memorial) was something the Congress could have done but did not as they disliked anything to do with Patel," he claimed.
Accusing the Congress of insulting soldiers who conducted surgical strikes across the western border in Pakistan in September 2016, the Prime Minister said its leaders asked for its proof rather than hailing them for their bravery.
"The Congress has no respect for the sacrifices of our soldiers. When our soldiers did surgical strikes, its shameless leaders questioned it by asking for proof of their brave act. They prefer our soldiers going to war with cameras instead of guns," said Modi.
Calling Karnataka a "land of valour", Modi regretted that the Congress had also ill-treated Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa and General K.S. Thimayya, who hailed from the state's Kodagu region.
"The Congress had not only ill-treated Cariappa but its Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru also kept insulting Thimayya," lamented Modi.
Cariappa (1899-1993) was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Army and was conferred the Field Marshal rank on April 1986. He was also a recipient of the Order of the British Empire for his role in the Burma campaign against the Japanese during the Second World War (1939-1945).
Cariappa also led the forces on the western front during the 1947 Indo-Pak war. He is the first of the two officers to hold the five-star rank of Field Marshal, the other being Sam Manekshaw (1914-2008).
Thimayya (1906-65), a 1954 Padma Bhushan awardee, was Chief of Army Staff from 1957 to 1961.
The Prime Minister said he was not surprised by the Congress disrespect to the soldiers and the country, as evident from its own leader sitting on the dais when the national song "Vande Mataram" was sung recently.
Modi was alluding to a video footage showing Congress President Rahul Gandhi seated on the stage at a public rally on April 27 at Bantwal in the state's coastal region when the song was sung by a group of party cadres and reportedly gestured them to stop the rendering after the first line.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
