Surgical-strikes video: Govt seeks Congress' apology

Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said the Congress party should apologise to the nation for accusing the government of using surgical strikes' video for political gains.

Earlier today, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, while interacting with media said the BJP "shamelessly" used the surgical strikes for their benefit during the assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. "The nation needs to be cautioned, whenever Modi Government starts failing, whenever Amit Shah's BJP starts losing, they misuse the valour of the Army for their political benefit," Surjewala had stated.

Rijiju, while speaking exclusively to ANI, said, "I am very surprised that the Congress party which ruled India for more than 5 decades is speaking in the tune of separatists. The army has done something extraordinary in the national interest by performing the surgical strike, but the Congress party demanded proof. Now that video evidence has emerged, they are saying this is for publicity."

"I fail to understand what level of politics Congress is playing. Due to years of corruption, the people of India have rejected Congress. That doesn't mean that out of desperation they should speak and act in tune with Pakistani establishments and separatists. Congress should apologise to the nation for this," he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, the video footage of the September 2016 surgical strikes was released in public domain.

The strikes were conducted by the Indian army in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in response to the Uri terror attack wherein 18 Army personnel were killed.