DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Haryana Energy Minister Anil Vij said on Tuesday that India's civil defence operates during times when natural disasters strike any part of the country, but the countrymen must remain active with the civil defence for any eventualities. Regarding the Central government's directive to conduct a nationwide mock drill on May 7 in all states amid rising tensions with Pakistan, Minister Vij said, "We have witnessed wars before. During the 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan wars, blackouts were enforced and people moved to safe shelters."

"If we are preparing for an offensive, then blackouts are also happening in Pakistan. We have a civil defence system that functions in such scenarios within the country. It must be activated, and hence the mock drills are necessary." Reacting to People's Democratic Party Chief Mehbooba Mufti's statement that the Indian Army should stop carrying out search operations in Kashmir, Minister Vij said the decisions on military operations should be left entirely to the Army. Speaking to reporters, he added, "When Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clearly said the Army should take its own decisions, then who are other leaders to interfere? Once the Prime Minister has said that the Army should decide when and where to attack, then the Army should be allowed to do its work." Minister Vij appealed to the nation and said, "The people of India must stand firmly with their Armed forces, boost their morale, and punish those spreading negativity so severely that not a single voice should be heard against the Army."

Asked about remarks by the Congress and other opposition parties over the actions taken against Pakistan, the Minister said such "people are traitors to the country, and these comments are not accidental but are being made deliberately". He said that there have always been traitors in the country, and now they are trying to demoralise the Army in various ways.

"The Uttar Pradesh Congress President mocking the world's best fighter jet, Rafale, is not appropriate. In earlier times, when our forces went to battle, their spirits were lifted with encouragement and patriotic songs. But now it seems these people (the Congress and in the Opposition) are aligned with Pakistan, and the public must keep a watch on them," he added.

(editor@dailyworld.in)