Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday said Rahul Gandhi’s walkout from a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence was totally justified and stressed that the panel should have discussed strategic security issues.
Gandhi on Wednesday had walked out from a meeting of the panel, alleging that time was being wasted in discussing armed forces’ uniform instead of the crucial issue of national security.
The Punjab CM urged the Lok Sabha Speaker to look into the working of the committee, which he dubbed as absurd with the members discussing the type of polish to be used on buttons and shoes of the uniform instead of strategising on ways to counter the joint China-Pakistan threat.
With both China and Pakistan breathing down India, the committee should have been discussing strategic security issues and the urgent requirements of our forces and not the polish they need to shine their shoes and buttons, said Amarinder Singh in a statement.
People who know nothing of the defence forces are made to sit on these committees now and we expect them to protect the nation, he quipped. He expressed shock that political affiliations were guiding the functioning of the panel.
Politicians with no knowledge of our history and armed forces are sitting in the committee, he said.
The chairman should understand that what is done or discussed in these committee meetings is in the larger interest of the nation and he should not behave in such a petty manner, the CM said.
Shocked with the discussion in our Parliamentary Defence Committee where members were discussing the type of polish to be used for buttons on the Armed Forces Uniform instead of finding ways to counter the joint China-Pak threat. @RahulGandhi rightly walked out of this mockery. pic.twitter.com/tP9hLtxpYb
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) December 17, 2020
Rahul was right to walk out of the meeting which, rather than talking about what the forces need to combat the threat of China and Pakistan, who are friends, was discussing trivial issues, said Amarinder Singh.
The way Rahul and other Congress members were treated was atrocious, said the Punjab CM, citing reports that the party MP was not allowed to speak.
The CM pointed out that Gandhi had wanted to discuss more important and larger issues but was not allowed to speak.
Instead of discussing operational and larger issues, such as the equipment and food that our jawans at the borders have or do not have, the committee was discussing buttons and badges and uniforms, he quipped.
What is this nonsense, asked Amarinder Singh, adding that the committee has become a joke.
Also read: Rahul walks out of his first House panel on defence meet after ‘spat’ on military structures