BJP ignoring Indira Gandhi's sacrifice: Rahul

Dehradun: CONGRESS leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the BJP government of ignoring the role of then prime minister Indira Gandhi in the 1971 War as India celebrates the 50th anniversary of the victory, which he said was achieved as the country was united then. Referring to his grandmother and the former PM, he said she took "32 bullets for the country" but her name was not even mentioned at a government event in New Delhi on the anniversary of the victory over Pakistan. "However, it does not make any difference because I know what she did for the country by giving her blood," the Congress leader said launching his party's campaign for the Uttarakhand Assembly polls during a rally at Parade Ground here.

He said the credit for the 1971 War victory, which came in just 13 days, does not go exclusively to the Army, Navy or the political leadership of the day, it goes to the "united fight put up by Indians regardless of their cast or religion". Lakhs of families donated gold to the government of the day to strengthen the fight against Pakistan, he said.

"The country spoke in one voice and the America's Seventh Fleet was forced to return. Usually, full scale wars take years to conclude. But India won the 1971 War in 13 days because it spoke in one voice," he said. The Congress leader said helicopters and fighter aircrafts do not strengthen a country. "A country becomes strong when its people are strong," he said. He further said sacrifice defines his relationship with the state from where thousands of people die fighting on the borders for the country. "The way thousands of families in Uttarakhand lose their kin battling for the country's honour, my family too has made sacrifices. This is my relationship with Uttarakhand," he said. The Congress leader said while travelling to Dehradun, he was thinking what kind of relationship he has with Uttarakhand.

"I thought of the few years I spent here as a student of the Doon School, during which I got a lot of your love. I was also reminded of two dates--October 31--when my grandmother became a martyr and--May 21--when my father was assassinated. And the word that struck me was sacrifice," he added. Rahul Gandhi said he was at school when he was told that his grandmother received 32 bullet wounds. "Such calls are received by thousands of families in Uttarakhand when their kin make the supreme sacrifice to safeguard the country," he said.