Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of passively allowing Chinese occupation of Indian land. He equated the Government of India to former United Kingdom PM Neville Chamberlain who let Nazi dictator Adolph Hitler have his way in the run-up to World War II. Chamberlain is perceived by many to be a weak political leader.
Rahul continued his relentless criticism of the Centre over the violence in Ladakh last month and the subsequent India-China border face-off and said India will pay a “huge price because of the Government’s cowardly actions”.
Rahul, who has repeatedly accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “surrendering” to Chinese aggression along the border, said: “China has taken our land and the Government of India is behaving like Chamberlain. This will further embolden China”.
The Congress leader also attached a short video of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to soldiers in Ladakh on Friday. In the clip, Singh says that while there is no guarantee talks can resolve tensions, “not an inch of our land can be taken by any power in the world”.
The Prime Minister made similar statements during his visit last month.
However, the Congress has remained unconvinced by the government’s statements and handling of this matter, pointing repeatedly to a comment by the Prime Minister at June’s all-party meeting.
Rahul Gandhi’s “Chamberlain” reference was to the late former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who followed a policy of appeasement towards Hitler and Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
The policy, seen by many since as an ill-advised move, allowed Hitler to expand his territory under agreements that saw Britain concede Sudetenland, the German-speaking part of Czechoslovakia.
Meant to buy Britain time to recover from World War I, the policy broke down after Hitler violated the deal to occupy the rest of Czechoslovakia. Six months on, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began.