In the political season, even a brave heart becomes collateral. On Saturday PM Modi said that the entire country is feeling the absence of Rafale fighter jet aircraft.
“The country is feeling the absence of Rafale. The entire country is saying in one voice today, what all could have happened if we had Rafale. The country has suffered a lot due to selfish interests earlier and now politics over Rafale,” he said.
His comment came days after the Indian Air Force lost a MiG-21 in an air battle with Pakistan’s F-16 jets, resulting in the capture of Wing Commander Abhinandan.
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Congress president Rahul Gandhi shot back at the PM saying that the Prime Minister is solely responsible for the delay in the arrival of the Rafale jets.
“Dear PM,
Have you no shame at all?
YOU stole 30,000 Cr and gave it to your friend Anil. YOU are solely responsible for the delay in the arrival of the RAFALE jets. YOU are WHY brave IAF pilots like Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, are risking their lives flying outdated jets,” the Congress president tweeted.
Speaking at a media event on Saturday, Modi said, “These are the parties whose statements and articles are being used by Pakistan against India. In their fixation with criticising Modi, they are opposing the country and comprising its interests.”
“If you want to oppose Modi, do so, but do not oppose national interests. They should take care that their anti-Modi obsession does not help terrorists like Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed,” PM added.
IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman remained in Pakistan’s custody for nearly 58 hours and was released on March 1st. Varthaman reportedly told the officials that he was not physically tortured by his Pakistani captors but subjected to mental harassment during the time he was in their custody.