The recent comments of Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, in which he described the Chinese invasion of 1962 as an "alleged" one, have created political ripples, with the BJP accusing him of brazen historical revisionism.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that Aiyar immediately retracted the use of the term "alleged invasion," realizing that it was a mistake. Ramesh claimed the party dissociated itself from the original word choice of Aiyar.
Ramesh went on to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi for absolving the Chinese of their miscreations in May 2020.
In a viral video clip, purportedly from an event at the Foreign Correspondents Club, Aiyar can be heard saying, ".In October 1962, the Chinese allegedly invaded India." Later, Aiyar issued a statement expressing regret for his inadvertent use of the term "alleged," emphasizing his apology.
Aiyar's remarks, made during the launch of the book "Nehru’s First Recruits," drew sharp criticism from BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya.
Malviya lambasted the Congress, labeling Aiyar's comments as a deliberate attempt to rewrite history. He raised several allegations against the Congress leadership, questioning their relationship with China over the years.
In response to the controversy, Ramesh attributed Aiyar's remarks to his age, while reiterating the Congress party's stance on the matter. He emphasized the reality of the Chinese invasion of India in 1962 and the subsequent incursions in Ladakh in May 2020.
“Mani Shankar Aiyar, speaking at the FCC, during the launch of a book called Nehru’s First Recruits, refers to the Chinese invasion in 1962 as ‘alleged’. This is a brazen attempt at revisionism,” the BJP leader said on X.
“Nehru gave up India’s claim on permanent seat at the UNSC in favour of the Chinese, Rahul Gandhi signed a secret MoU, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation accepted funds from the Chinese Embassy and published reports recommending market access for Chinese companies, based on them, Sonia Gandhi’s UPA opened up Indian market for Chinese goods, hurting MSMEs and now Congress leader Aiyar wants to whitewash the Chinese invasion, post which the Chinese have been in illegal occupation of 38,000 sq km of Indian territory,” he alleged.
Ramesh also criticized the outgoing Prime Minister for allegedly absolving China publicly, which he believed weakened India's negotiating position. He highlighted the areas of Indian territory still under Chinese control and reposted his earlier remarks accusing PM Modi of giving China a clean chit.
“The outgoing PM, however, gave a clean chit publicly to the Chinese on June 19th 2020, seriously weakening our negotiating position. 2000 sq km of territory including Depsang and Demchok remain out of bounds for Indian troops,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
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