Can't extort, donation to Army voluntary: Manohar Parrikar on Raj Thackeray

New Delhi: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday made it clear that donation to the Army was "voluntary" and he does not appreciate "holding of someone's neck", amid a row over the MNS diktat asking film producers employing Pakistani actors to pay Rs 5 core to army welfare fund. The Army has been upset over being dragged into politics. "The concept is voluntary donation and not catching neck of someone. We don't appreciate it," Parrikar told reporters here on the sidelines of the naval commanders conference here. The Defence minister said the concept behind the newly created Battle Casualty Fund was to ensure that all those people who wanted to donate voluntarily for welfare of the family of martyrs could do so. "There will be a scheme managed by MoD with assistance from Adjutant General Branch concerned. It is a voluntary donation and therefore we are not concerned with anyone demanding something to be donated to that," he said. He said the ministry is formulating a scheme through which all families of martyrs will be helped equally.