Jairam Ramesh slams PM Modi’s remark on Mizoram aerial bombing, says he twisted decisions out of context

New Delhi [India], August 11 : Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Friday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on Indira Gandhi regarding the aerial bombing in Mizoram in 1966, accusing him of "twisting decisions out of political and historical context". 
The senior Congress leader's criticism came a day after PM Modi, while replying to the no-confidence motion debate in Lok Sabha, said that the Congress, during the tenure of Indira Gandhi, had its Air Force attack on the helpless citizens in Mizoram on March 5, 1966.
Posting on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Jairam Ramesh said, "Yesterday, the Prime Minister’s speech revealed the influence of mischievous distortions in his thinking. He twisted decisions taken by his predecessors out of their political and historical context. He did it only to score petty debating points. This is perhaps only to be expected from someone who claims to be an MA in Entire Political Science."
He said that his criticism of Indira Gandhi's extraordinarily tough decision of March 1966 in Mizoram to deal with secessionist forces that drew support from Pakistan and China was particularly pathetic.  
"She saved Mizoram, started negotiations with those fighting the Indian state and finally a Peace Accord was signed on June 30, 1986. The manner in which the Accord came about is a remarkable story that reinforces the idea of India in Mizoram today. Anyone who takes their role as Prime Minister with full responsibility of the incredibly tough decisions one needs to make in that chair would never have said this," Jairam Ramesh wrote further. 
Earlier on Thursday, PM Modi, in Parliament, said, "On March 5 1966, Congress had its Air Force attack on the helpless citizens in Mizoram. Congress should answer if it was the Air Force of any other country. "Were the people of Mizoram not the citizens of my country? Was their security not the responsibility of the Government of India?"
The Prime Minister said that even today, the whole of Mizoram mourns on March 5 every year. 
Notably, PM Modi also attacked the Congress for dividing "Maa Bharati" into three parts for political interests and also pointed out that the Katchatheevu Island was ceded to Sri Lanka during the tenure of the Indira Gandhi government in 1974.
He said that these are the people who divided Maa Bharati into three pieces. "When Maa Bharati was to be freed from the chains of slavery, then these people chopped arms of Maa Bharati," he added. 
"Just ask those who have gone out, what is Katchatheevu? And where is it located? DMK Government, their CM writes to me – Modi ji bring back Katchatheevu. It is an island but who gave it to another country. Was it not a part of Maa Bharati (Mother India)? And you broke it. It happened under the leadership of Indira Gandhi," PM Modi said. 
It is pertinent to mention that the island, located between Rameswaram (India) and Sri Lanka, was traditionally used by both Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen. In 1974, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the “Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime agreement”. The 1974 Agreement regarding historic waters between Sri Lanka and India in the Palk Strait and the Palk Bay formally confirmed Sri Lanka’s sovereignty over the Island.