India-China Galwan standoff book: Mumbai Congress protests against Centre

Mumbai Youth Congress on Wednesday staged a protest urging the Centre to clarify its stand on the 2020 IndiaChina Galwan Valley standoff and to allow the immediate publication of a book Four Stars of Destiny book by former Army chief General Manoj NaravaneThe demonstration led by Mumbai Youth Congress president Zeenat Shabreen was held outside the Congress office at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan in South Mumbai reported news agency PTISlogans critical of the Modi government were raised during the agitation with Youth Congress workers expressing anger over what they described as the Centrersquos ldquofailurerdquo to address national security concernsModi govt silent on security issues Youth CongressAccording to PTI the Youth Congress alleged that the Modi government has remained silent on key security issues and has ldquoconcealedrdquo facts related to the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash in eastern LadakhA violent faceoff between Indian and Chinese border troops in the Galwan Valley had resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiersShabreen questioned what Prime Minister Narendra Modi was ldquohidingrdquo about the incident and demanded that the government provide clear answers to the nation on the China issueGalwan clash Govt delay led to soldiersrsquo sacrifice claims Congress leaderShe also slammed the government for not allowing the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to speak in Parliament on the sensitive matter and for preventing him from quoting from Naravanersquos unpublished memoir on the IndiaChina standoff reported PTIClaiming that the government failed to take timely decisions despite inputs from the armed forces Shabreen said this lapse led to the sacrifice of Indian soldiers during the Galwan clashThe Mumbai Youth Congress president demanded that responsibility be fixed and action taken against those responsible for the soldiersrsquo deathsStating that the sacrifice of the soldiers would not be allowed to go in vain Shabreen said the Youth Congress would continue its agitation until the government responds to its demands reported PTIClaims of restricted quotation in ParliamentCongress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that he had been informed that he was not permitted to quote from the memoir in the Lok Sabha despite its relevance to national security and parliamentary debateCiting the contents of the memoir Rahul Gandhi alleged that when Chinese tanks reached the Kailash Range then Army Chief Gen Naravane sought urgent instructions from the political leadershipAccording to Gandhi Naravane first contacted Defence Minister Rajnath Singh but received no immediate response He then reached out to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval but again did not receive clear instructionsldquoWhen he called again the Defence Minister said he would lsquoask from the toprsquordquo Gandhi claimed the news agency reportedGandhi further alleged that there was a standing order from the highest level that Indian forces should not open fire on Chinese troops without prior political clearance even if they had entered Indian territoryHe said the Army leadership wanted to respond militarily but was constrained by the lack of clear approvalPM passed responsibility to Army Chief Rahul GandhiQuoting what he described as the key line from the memoir Gandhi claimed Prime Minister Modi ultimately conveyed the message ldquoJo uchit samjho woh karordquo Do what you think is appropriate as per the PTIGandhi interpreted this as the Prime Minister passing responsibility to the Army Chief rather than taking a firm decision himselfldquoHe told the Army Chief lsquoYou do whatever you want this is beyond mersquordquo Gandhi alleged citing the memoir according to the PTIWith PTI inputs