Army chief warns Pak, says India 'will not show restraint' next time; asks troops to stay prepared
Anupgarh/Jaipur (PTI): In a stern warning to Pakistan, Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said on Friday that the neighbouring country should stop sponsoring terrorism on its soil if wants to retain its place on the world map.
The Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) also said the restraint shown by New Delhi during Operation Sindoor would not be repeated in case of a future military conflict and urged Indian soldiers to remain poised for action.
"India, as a country, is fully prepared this time. And this time, it will not show the restraint that it showed during Operation Sindoor 1.0. This time we will take a step forward and act in a manner that will make Pakistan think whether it wants to remain on the world map or not," General Dwivedi said in a sternly-worded address to soldiers at Anupgarh in Rajasthan's Sriganganagar district.
He asserted that if Pakistan wants to retain its place on the world map, it will have to stop state-sponsored terrorism.
The Army chief told the soldiers to stay prepared. "Keep yourselves fully prepared now, if god wants, the opportunity will come soon," he said.
Gen. Dwivedi said India has given evidence to the world of the presence of terrorist hideouts in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. Had India not unearthed this evidence, Pakistan would have hidden all of it, he said.
The Army chief said the entire world stood with India when it launched Operation Sindoor in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam attack. He said the Indian military hit nine targets inside Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, of which seven were hit by the Army and two by the Air Force.
"We had identified the targets because we only wanted to harm the terrorists. We had aimed to strike their bases. We have no complaints against ordinary Pakistani citizens, so long as their country does not sponsor terrorists. Because terrorists were being sponsored, those terrorist targets were hit," Gen. Dwivedi said.
Replying to a question about his appeal to those living near the international border, he said, "We consider the border population not as ordinary civilians but as soldiers. That means they stand shoulder to shoulder with us in the battle. This is crucial because the coming struggle is the nation's struggle, not just the Army's."
The Army chief said history bears witness that during the 1965 and 1971 wars, ordinary citizens stood shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers.
"We would want them to join us in the days ahead as well. I want to thank them -- their zeal boosts the morale of our soldiers," he said.
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Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
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The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
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"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
