Chennai: Union defence minister Manohar Parrikar took a dig at Pakistan on the issue of terrorism and its handling of Balochistan and said Pakistan was the only country that “bombed its own citizens.
“Pakistan is facing the problem of terrorism to such an extent that while they push 10 jihadis into our side, there is a bomb blast that kills 70-80 people somewhere in Pakistan. And when they talk about Kashmir, the way they deal with Pak-occupied-Kashmir and Balochistan….it’s the only country which had to bomb its own citizens with fighter planes in the North East Frontier Area,” he said.
Speaking at a panel discussion organised by Chinmaya Mission here on Saturday night, on the relevance of Bhagavad Gita for soldiers, with former Army General V. P. Malik at Geeta Mahotsav, Mr Parrikar said the Gita emphasised that “you fight for a right cause and you don’t fight for the sake of it. “Our northern neighbour fights a war for winning a war…The Gita gave a totally different version,” he quipped.
Former Army chief Malik said Gita teaches one to face problems in a realistic manner. “Though the Gita has a lot of messages for everyone, it is something special to the soldiers. I wish everyone, irrespective of the religion read Gita and learn something from it,” he added. Knowledge, according to Chinmaya Mission Acharya Swami Mitrananda, comes with detachment which would eradicate fear from the people’s minds.
