DS Hooda believes surgical strikes were politicised; Congress thanks ex-Army General for exposing PM Modi

Gen Hooda was the Northern Army commander when the surgical strikes were carried out on September 29, 2016, across the LoC as a response to a terrorist attack in Uri earlier that month.

Gen Hooda was the Northern Army commander when the surgical strikes were carried. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: Days after marking the second anniversary of the surgical strike carried out by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LoC), retired Lt Gen DS Hooda opened up about the strike and said that the hype around the operation was unwarranted. While speaking during a panel discussion on the topic, 'Role of Cross-Border Operations and Surgical Strikes,' on the first day of Military Literature Festival 2018, Gen Hooda said that was natural to have an initial euphoria over the success but the constant hype around the operation was unwarranted. Gen Hooda was the Northern Army commander when the surgical strikes were carried out on September 29, 2016, across the LoC as a response to a terrorist attack in Uri earlier that month. Soon after Gen Hooda’s response started making headline, Congress picked it up and left no time to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central government for politicising the operation conducted by the armed forces. Rahul Gandhi took to micro-blogging site Twitter and accused PM Modi of using the army as his personal asset. “Spoken like a true soldier General [DS Hooda]. India is so proud of you. Mr 36 [PM Modi] has absolutely no shame in using our military as a personal asset. He used the surgical strikes for political capital and the Rafale deal to increase Anil Ambani’s real capital by 30,000 Cr,” he tweeted.

Spoken like a true soldier General. India is so proud of you. Mr 36 has absolutely no shame in using our military as a personal asset. He used the surgical strikes for political capital and the Rafale deal to increase Anil Ambani’s real capital by 30,000 Cr. #SurgicalStrike https://t.co/IotXWBsIih

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 8, 2018

Even another senior leader of Congress, Randeep Surjewala thanked Gen Hooda for sharing his thoughts over the issue. "Thank you Lt Gen Hooda for exposing the petty politicisation by PM Modi! No one can use the valour and sacrifice of our brave soldiers to score cheap political points...Modiji is squarely guilty of compromising national security and strategic interests by unwarranted chest thumping!" Surjewala wrote.

Thank you Lt.Gen.Hooda for exposing the petty politicisation by PM Modi!

No one can use the valour & sacrifice of our brave soldiers to score cheap political points Modiji is squarely guilty of compromising National Security & Strategic Interests by unwarranted chest thumping! pic.twitter.com/VjrUxS3alC — Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) December 8, 2018

Responding to a question from the audience, General Hooda said in hindsight, it would have been better had we done it (surgical strikes) secretly. The aim of any such offensive had to be not only tactical but strategic too, which substantially hampers enemy morale, he said Lt Gen DS Hooda was part of the planning team for the strikes on Pakistani terror launchpads during September 2016. Speaking to news agency ANI, Hooda said: “I do think the surgical strike was overhyped and politicised...but from the military point of view, the strike was much needed.”

#WATCH: Lt Gen (retd) DS Hooda, who was Chief of the Northern Command of the Army when surgical strike was executed in 2016, says "Surgical strike was overhyped & politicised."https://t.co/P8r8QBd3pL

— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2018

“We lost so many soldiers during the Uri attack. It was very important to send a strong message to Pakistan. We wanted to tell Pakistan that if they come to our side and carry out such strikes again then we can also go to their area and carry out bigger and better strikes,” he added.