 "Wild claims against Army impacts morale: Parrikar writes to Mamata Banerjee")
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday wrote a letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, expressing pain over dragging the Army into the 'alleged army coup in Bengal' controversy.
"I have been deeply pained by your allegation, your allegation in this regard run the risk of adversely impacting the morale of armed forces and the same was not expected from the person of your standing and experience in public," he wrote.
Banerjee has been protesting against the presence of the Army at toll plazas in several parts of the state sans permission.
Parrikar went on to say that Indian Army is one of the most disciplined institutions of India and has dedicated itself to the safety and security of the nation.
Further Parrikar asserted that while political parties and politicians may have the luxury of making wild and unsubstantiated allegations against each othe, t one needs to be extremely careful while referring to India's armed forces.
The Defence Minister wrote this letter in regard to Mamata Banerjee's accusation on December 1, that the Centre was creating a situation "worse than Emergency" by deploying Army personnel at Palsit and Dankuni toll plazas on NH-2 in West Bengal without informing her government.
Here is the entire letter:
Here is the entire letter:
Also Read
In a hurriedly convened press conference Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had alleged that Central government has "deployed army in various parts of the State."
"The State government has not been informed about this deployment by the Center. This is clearly a violation of the rules and understanding [between the Centre and the State] when army is deployed without informing a democratically elected government," Banerjee said.
Commenting on Manohar Parrikar's letter, TMC leader Derek O Brien said, "Letter has not reached WB CM and it has already leaked to media".
We will give a befitting reply when it comes, he added.