Army cannot perform operational duties if not given freedom: LoP Rahul Gandhi on Operation Sindoor

New Delhi:  In a scathing address in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not giving operational freedom and operational maneuver to the Armed Forces during Operation Sindoor.

Speaking in Parliament during the discussion on Operation Sindoor, LoP Rahul Gandhi said, “Our jawans (soldiers) are tigers, but you cannot cage a tiger and expect it to fight. The Army needs full political will and complete freedom of action, just like it had in 1971 under Indira Gandhi.”

Drawing a comparison between the 1971 war and the Operation Sindoor, Gandhi noted that Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw had demanded six months to prepare for the Bangladesh Liberation War, and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had agreed—demonstrating true political will. “One lakh Pakistani soldiers surrendered. That was the result of real political backing,” he said.

He criticised Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement that Operation Sindoor lasted 22 minutes and that India informed Pakistan immediately after the strike that only non-military targets were hit and escalation was not desired. “You told Pakistan your limits, that you didn’t have the political will to strike military targets. You essentially surrendered in 30 minutes,” Gandhi alleged.

He also cited comments from India’s Defence Attaché to Indonesia, Captain Shiv Kumar, arguing that he had hinted at political constraints during the operation. “The Air Force made no mistake. The mistake was of political leadership. Their hands were tied,” Gandhi added.

It is pertinent to note here that Cap Shiv Kumar had earlier said that “….I do agree that we did lose some aircraft and that happened only because of the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack the military establishments and their air defences.”

Rahul Gandhi further claimed that the motive behind Operation Sindoor was to protect PM Modi’s global image, stating, “The Prime Minister had blood on his hands after Pahalgam, and he used the Air Force to wash it off.” Taking aim at External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Gandhi pointed out that no country, not even neighbours, condemned Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack. “Countries only condemned terrorism in general. This shows that the world now equates India with Pakistan.”

He also raised concerns over growing China-Pakistan military collaboration, referring to shared intelligence and joint command presence in PLA theatres. “Our biggest foreign policy challenge is to de-link China and Pakistan, but this government has allowed them to fuse into a single unified front,” he warned.

On US President Donald Trump’s continuous comments that he brought the ceasefire, Gandhi dared PM Modi to publicly refute U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that he brokered the Operation Sindoor ceasefire. “If the Prime Minister has even 50 per cent of Indira Gandhi’s courage, he should stand in Parliament and say Trump lied,” he said.

–IANS