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Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Tuesday hit out at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s IT cell head Amit Malviya over the latter’s remarks on the ex-Rajasthan deputy chief minister’s father Rajesh Pilot.
While sharing a video from a news channel, Malviya had claimed that Rajesh Pilot as pilot dropped bombs on Mizoram capital Aizawl in 1966.
“Rajesh Pilot and Suresh Pilots were flying the Indian Air Force planes which dropped bombs on Mizoram’s capital Aizawl on March 5, 1966. Later, both of them became Congress MPs and later ministers. Indira Gandhi felicitated those conducting airstrikes on fellow citizens in the north east through political opportunities”, Malviya posted on X (formerly Twitter).
On Tuesday, Sachin Pilot chose to respond to Malviya’s claims. “You have the wrong dates, wrong facts…Yes, as an Indian Air Force pilot, my late father did drop bombs. But that was on erstwhile East Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pak war and not as you claim, on Mizoram on the 5th of March 1966. He was commissioned into the IAF only on 29th October 1966! (Certificate attached) Jai hind and a happy Independence Day”, he posted.
During his reply to no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that then PM Indira Gandhi had used the IAF against Mizoram. “Weren’t citizens of Mizoram our citizens? Even today, Mizoram mourns on March 5 every year. It hasn’t forgotten till now. And Congress has hidden this fact from the country,” the prime minister had said.
Responding to PM Modi, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh had defended the former prime minister. “His criticism of Indira Gandhi’s extraordinarily tough decision of March 1966 in Mizoram to deal with secessionist forces that drew support from Pakistan and China was particularly pathetic”, Ramesh said.
“She saved Mizoram, started negotiations with those fighting the Indian state and finally a Peace Accord was signed on June 30, 1986. The manner in which the Accord came about is a remarkable story that reinforces the idea of India in Mizoram today”, Ramesh added.
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