Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has shared her views on the letter to the Rashtrapati Bhavan allegedly signed by Army veterans whose authenticity is now under scanner.
#WATCH Nirmala Sitharaman on purported letter to Pres signed by Armed Forces veterans: 2 senior officers said they haven’t given consent,worrying that fake letters being signed by vested groups.Condemnable. Rashtrapati Bhawan has also said that they have not received the letter. pic.twitter.com/VQdWhbgKh5
— ANI (@ANI) April 12, 2019
The Defence Minister mentioned that two highly decorated veterans, a former air chief and a major general have now denied signing it. She said that even the Rashtrapati Bhavan has denied receiving any such letter and it is already out in the public domain. “It is very worrying that if even people’s consent are not being taken and fake letters, fake allegations are being signed by some vested interest groups, it is absolutely condemnable”, said the Defence Minister.
It is notable here that several veterans have now denied signing the letter and refused to endorse the statements made in the letter. Army veterans like Air Marshall Suri, General SF Rodrigues, Former Army Vice Chief Lt General ML Naidu have said that their consent was not taken for the letter and that the did not sign any such letter.
She said that genuine complaints are welcome but such fake complaints should not be given during the time of the election. “Without taking the permission of people who are eminent citizens, eminent officers, you just include their names in the petition, it is objectionable”, she added.
Curious Case of the Confounding Communication – two former chiefs (ACM Suri and Gen Rodrigues) say they haven’t signed.
Two others (Adm Mehta and possibly Gen Kapoor) say they have.
Seems to have been a shoddy job of collecting signatures. https://t.co/7wJrUiYuJv
— Manu Pubby (@manupubby) April 12, 2019
The purported letter has been doing rounds on social media and is being used to attack the government. Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi had also mentioned the letter during a media briefing today. Congress has been propagating the questionable letter through its official social media channels to launch attacks on the government.
