Hours after television channels aired a footage of the September 2016 surgical strikes along the Line of Control in Pakistan, then defence minister Manohar Parrikar today said the Congress should realise its "mistake" of doubting armed forces and questioning the veracity of the operation.
He also rejected a suggestion that the government might have leaked the footage in view of upcoming elections, saying that the polls were a year away.
Earlier in the day, the Congress accused the Modi government and the BJP of "politicising" the strikes after the video of the operation was aired by news channels.
Soon after the strikes, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam had questioned the authenticity of the government's claim of carrying out the strikes against terror launch pads along the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan.
"I feel they (Congress) should realise their mistake. I do not know whether (an) apology is (the) right word for it. They should be very careful while commenting on the issues of national interest and armed forces," Parrikar told Times Now news channel.
"A very small political point to be scored, cannot be at the cost of the nation and the armed forces. To score a point (by) raising questions about the surgical strikes was actually demeaning to our armed forces," he said when asked whether the Congress should tender an apology.
Parrikar resumed work as Goa chief minister earlier this month after undergoing medical treatment in the United States for a pancreatic ailment.
"I feel that these kinds of doubt could be expressed by people who do not consider nation first and the strength of our armed forces. It is demoralising to the armed forces," he said.
"The exercise (strikes) was carried out by our armed forces and the credit goes to the armed forces. But you cannot deny the credit to the political leadership which took the strong decision," Parrikar said.
The surgical strike was carried out after "extensive planning and preparations," he said.
Giving credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the former defence minister said, "It could happen (only) because (of) the leadership of the prime minister (which) was very crucial".
"It is very easy to say about such actions when they are successful. If there was some loss of life, I think it could have been a very damaging thing," he said.
Parrikar said the "prime minister supported the decision right from day one".
On the toughest part of the decision-making process to conduct the strikes, he said, "For me, while making the decision, PM's support was there, but the toughest part was what if this escalates, if this goes out beyond the intended limited operation and if there is retaliation, then what."
"We had to prepare ourselves for any eventuality. The planning does not talk only about the small operation, but detailing about a complete fall out in case something goes wrong," he said.
Whatever is being shown on TV channels is a "small part" of the evidence, Parrikar said.
"What you (media) have shown is a very small part of the evidence. There is much more to it and (it was) much detailed operation," he said.
Speaking to reporters later, the Goa chief minister denied that the footage of the surgical strikes was 'leaked' to news channels keeping in mind the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
"The footage has come one year before the elections. One year is a long period. If someone wanted to take the advantage, they could have done so two months before the elections," he said.
He also rubbished the claims that the footage could have been leaked by the Defence Ministry.
"It is a small part which is being shown. Whoever were doubting the surgical strikes, this is the right response to them, that our armed forces can carry out this kind of operation successfully without any hesitation and their bravery cannot be doubted," he said.
"I do not think the government has released it. Some people managed to get a small byte of it and it was shown. Why you have to go into the issue of how it has come out and why it has come out," Parrikar asked.
"As far as the opposition is concerned, they should have gracefully accepted the existence of the exercise. This is an evidence for whoever doubted the surgical strike," he reiterated.
"One who is in denial mode and who does not understand the importance of national respect, like the Congress party, they will go on defending their own comments without realising that they are acting against the national interest.
"This is not the Congress which fought for the independence of the country," he added.
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