Shashi Tharoor says China has its eyes on Tawang, demands debate in House

• Giving out a “small statement” without any clarification is not democratic, says Tharoor
• Rejected suggestions that the government cannot share much information on the issue due to its sensitive nature
• ‘Nehru ji held a debate and not only that, he managed to listen to 100 speakers amongst the MPs before coming up with a response’

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor invoked Jawaharlal Nehru’s parliamentary conduct during the 1962 war with China while hitting out at the Narendra Modi government for not allowing a discussion in parliament on clashes with China along the border in Arunachal Pradesh. He also said that China has its eyes on Tawang.

Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor said: “No doubt that China has its eyes on Tawang. We have to be very alert there. I think what our Army did yesterday had the support of the entire country.” Further, he said, “I told the Defence Minister that they should show the world that India is one and every member of every party is with Army on this.”

He also hit out at the government for not taking the matter seriously saying that giving out a “small statement” without any clarification is not democratic. He said: “This is normal. During the 1962 war with China, (then PM Jawaharlal) Nehru ji held a debate and not only that, he managed to listen to 100 speakers amongst the MPs before coming up with a concrete response. That is the kind of constructive engagement we are seeking.”

Tharoor also rejected suggestions that the government cannot share much information on the issue due to its sensitive nature, wrote NDTV, and quoted him as saying: “We are shocked that the government shows no interest in democracy, in holding itself accountable to the people. No one is asking them to reveal any classified information or anything, but they certainly should be taking a position of clarifying what their overall thinking is about a pattern of five years of Chinese misbehaviour on the LAC.”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in a statement to Parliament, on Tuesday said Chinese troops tried to “unilaterally” change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Yangtse area of Tawang sector on December 9, but the Indian Army compelled them to retreat with its “firm and resolute” response, according to PTI.

“We have been saying for some time now that this is what Parliament is for, it is a forum for the government to be accountable to the people of India on a matter like this where for five years Chinese have been nibbling at our LAC, starting with Doklam in 2017 and going on till what happened on December 9 in Tawang and the incidents in Galway, Depsang, Hot Springs and so on,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)