POBNEWS24, Dhaka Dec 16, 2024 : In a speech in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the country’s parliament, Priyanka Gandhi, leader of the opposition political party Congress and member of parliament from Wanneroo, commented that ‘Bangladesh won under the courageous leadership of Indira Gandhi in the liberation war’. On the other hand, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has faced fierce criticism and protests for claiming the victory achieved through the great liberation war of Bangladesh as an ‘Indian victory’ in a Facebook post.
At the beginning of her speech in the Lok Sabha, Priyanka Gandhi paid tribute to the soldiers who fought in the 1971 liberation war.
Priyanka Gandhi said, ‘Today is Victory Day. First of all, I want to salute those brave soldiers who fought for us in 1971. No one listened to the people of Bangladesh – our Bengali brothers and sisters – about what happened in Bangladesh at that time.’
Literating the courageous leadership of the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, she said, ‘Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India at that time; I want to salute her. She showed courage even in very difficult situations and demonstrated such leadership; which made the country victorious.’
At that time, she complained about the removal of a painting of the moment of surrender of the Pakistani army in 1971 from the country’s army headquarters in the capital New Delhi.
Priyanka Gandhi said, ‘A painting of Pakistani soldiers surrendering to the Indian army has been removed from the army headquarters today.’
Earlier, the Indian army clarified the matter that Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi had installed the painting named ‘Iconic 1971 Surrender Painting’ at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi.