Rahul Gandhi Says "China Has Taken Away Our Land", BJP Calls Remark Absurd

The BJP on Friday rejected Rahul Gandhi's charge that China has encroached on Indian territory as baseless and absurd, and asserted that it is the opposition party that has committed "historic, unpardonable crimes" in dealings with Beijing.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi quoted from selected works of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to say that his government had sent over 3,500 tonnes of rice in 1952 for the  Chinese Army, which was "starving". He also asked the Congress to release its reported agreement with the Chinese Communist Party when the UPA was in power.

Raking up the border issue, Mr Gandhi had said earlier on Friday at a public meeting in Kargil that every individual in Ladakh knows that China has "taken away our land" and claimed that PM Narendra Modi's assertion that not an inch of land was taken away was "absolutely false".

Addressing a press conference, Mr Trivedi alleged that the decision to send rice for the Chinese Army when India's relations with China had started getting strained was not a mistake but a "historic and unpardonable" crime.

Mr Gandhi has a habit of making baseless and absurd comments about China, he said, adding that the former Congress president makes remarks on India, its people and the RSS in a similar vein.

During the Doklam crisis, Mr Gandhi had met the Chinese ambassador, Mr Trivedi claimed.

The BJP leader asserted the government under PM Modi has notched up unprecedented successes in its handling of India's military, diplomatic and economic affairs.

The Congress has always tried to weaken the country when in the opposition, he said and asked the party to learn from the BJP which supported the then governments during crises involving neighbours, be it Pakistan or China.

While the Congress government refused to punish Pakistan for its support to terrorism as it thought that this will harm peace talks, PM Modi's policy is that terror and talks cannot go together, Mr Trivedi said. There is an atmosphere of peace and security while terror blasts routinely happened under the UPA, he added.

Mr Trivedi also mocked the opposition's criticism of a national award for 'The Kashmir Files', a commercial blockbuster which depicted the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits but came under criticism for its depiction of Muslims.

A jury has selected it and those standing for the freedom of expression should respect the choice, he said.

The BJP leader alleged that the opposition links the Muslim community with crimes and terrorism and does not like a "good and truthful Muslim". Such a stand harms India and Muslims, he said.

On Mr Gandhi's criticism of the RSS, the BJP spokesperson said Nehru had praised the Hindutva organisation's support to the government during the war with China in 1962 and had invited it to attend the Republic Day parade in 1963. Rahul Gandhi should decide if he is right or Nehru was, Mr Trivedi said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)