As the Supreme Court on Monday made scathing observations against Rahul Gandhi, Lok Sabha's Leader of Opposition, for his purportedly derogatory remarks against the Indian Army, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju also chimed in, faulting the Congress MP for having made what he called an "irresponsible statement.
The controversy originated from a purported remark made by Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, where he mentioned, "Chinese troops are thrashing Indian Army soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh," the incident of which took place on December 9, 2022, in the Tawang region.
Responding on social media site X, Rijiju said, "Supreme Court slams Shri Rahul Gandhi for irresponsible statement that Chinese occupied Indian Territory!"
He also directly quoted from the observation of the court: "SC: How do you know 2000 Sqr km of Indian territory were occupied by Chinese? A true Indian will not say this."
To further his point, Rijiju reshared a video from a previous session of the Lok Sabha, in which he had refuted Gandhi’s remarks in strong terms. Accompanying the clip, he wrote, “There should be no confusion due to the false narratives of Congress, and left ecosystem with regards to India's boundaries.”
During the hearing, a bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Joymalya Bagchi conveyed their criticism of Gandhi’s claim that China had taken control of 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory. The court remarked that “if he were a true Indian, he would not have said all this.”
Pointing questions towards senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who came on Gandhi's behalf, the bench questioned, "How do you know 2,000 square kilometres of Indian land were occupied by the Chinese? Were you present? Do you have any credible material? If you are an actual Indian, you would not utter all of this. When there is a clash across the order, is it surprising to have casualties on both sides?
The justices also asked why Gandhi chose the medium he did to speak out about such issues: "Whatever you have to say, why don't you say it in the Parliament? Why do you have to say this in social media posts?"
These were made during Singhvi's contention that it would be highly problematic if members of the opposition were not allowed to speak about matters of national interest.
Read also| Watch| Shashi Tharoor Counters Rahul Gandhi’s Comments on Trump: “We All Know...”
