"He did not divulge any secret": Ashok Gehlot after SC pulls up Rahul Gandhi over claims of China occupying Indian land

New Delhi [India], August 5 (ANI): As the Supreme Court pulled up the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, over his alleged remarks on the Indian Army after a clash between the Indian and Chinese armies in Yangsi region of Arunachal Pradesh in 2022, Congress leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot defended the LoP, saying that he did not divulge any secret when he said that 2,000 km Indian territory is intruded by the Chienese Army.
"Sh. @RahulGandhi did not divulge any secret. What he stated about intrusion and skirmishes in which 20 soldiers lost their lives is already in the public domain since long. The intrusion to the extent of about 2000km is also reflected in the reliable text on internet and in Media, including the location of intrusion," Gehlot said in a post on X.
He said that an activist of Ladakh, Sonam Wangchuk, has also been expressing concern about Chinese incursion in Indian territory.
"Rahul Gandhi has visited Ladakh in 2023 after the Bharat Jodo Yatra. At that time a large number of local people complained about Chinese intrusion. The BJP government also accepted the sacrifice of our soldiers. In fact Rahul Gandhi's statement was intended to ask the government to take remedial measures," he said.
The Congress leader said that since the issue was a burning issue at that time,the government itself should have come forward and brought this issue for discussion in parliament to take the nation into confidence.
"The ultimate form of patriotism is sacrificing one's life for the nation, something Rahul Gandhi's father Sh. Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Smt. Indira Gandhi did. Rahul Gandhi undertook a 4,000-kilometre journey across the country to highlight its issues. Who could be a greater patriot than him?" he said.
The Supreme Court's criticism of Gandhi's remarks came during a hearing on a defamation case related to his comments on the India-China border clash. The court questioned how Gandhi knew about the alleged occupation of 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory by China and suggested that a "true Indian" wouldn't make such statements.
After a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih expressed disapproval of Gandhi's remarks, saying how does he know the Chinese occupied 2000 square kilometres of land? and said that a true Indian wouldn't say such a thing. (ANI)