NEW DELHI: Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit set off a controversy on Sunday when he criticised Indian Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat and called him a “sarak ka gunda”.

Dikshit made the comment while responding to a question about some recent statements made by the chief of Pakistan Army.

“...it feels bad when our own army chief speaks like a ‘sarak ka gunda [roadside thug]’,” he said in an interview to the ANI news agency.

The Congress distanced itself from Dikshit’s comment, with party spokesperson Meem Afzal condemning the remarks as shocking and derogatory to the army.

“Our party respects army. It is shocking that somebody has uttered derogatory words against the army chief,” Afzal told Times Now.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also joined the fray. Associating Dikshit’s opinion with that of the Congress party, the BJP leader tweeted: “What’s wrong with Congress party? How dare Congress call Indian Army chief as ‘sarak ka gunda’!”

Dikshit later issued an apology and clarified that his statement was his personal opinion and did not reflect the beliefs of the Congress party. “I genuinely believe what I said was wrong. So I apologise for it and withdraw my statement,” the senior Congress leader told ANI.

Gen Rawat had recently said in an interview that it would have been easier for the armed forces if the protesters in India-held Kashmir were firing weapons instead of throwing stones.

“I wish these people, instead of throwing stones at us, were firing weapons at us. Then I would have been happy. Then I could do what I [want to do],” he had said.

He had also defended Maj Leetul Gogoi, who had tied a man to the bonnet of an army jeep as a human shield against stone-throwers, by suggesting that the dirty war in Jammu and Kashmir must be fought through “innovative” ways.

By arrangement with the Times of India

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2017