New Delhi: A video of Junior Defence Minister giving a short speech inside an aircraft of the Airforce, on the contribution made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in bringing back Indian nationals stuck in Ukraine, has sparked a controversy.
Union Minister of State for Defence, Ajay Bhatt, had boarded a heavy-lift cargo aircraft of the Indian Air Force after it landed at the airbase in Hindon Air Force Station near Delhi, which had students from Ukraine’s neighboring countries.
Wearing a blue jacket and a cap, just like one worn by the air force officer, the minister is seen addressing the students in the aircraft, “Don’t worry at all. Your lives have been saved by the grace of Modi Ji. Everything will be all right. Bharat Mata ki jai…mananiya Modi ji zindabad.”
When at first the minister reached the part where he said “mananiya Modi Ji zindabad”, there was no response from the students at first.
Bhatt repeated, “mananiya Modi Ji zindabad,” and after the second chant some students in the aircraft shouted “zindabad.”
The video has been castigated by the people on social media. They have claimed that it was improper to use a military platform to send a political message.
“This happening in an IAF aircraft is just not on,” Air Vice Marshal (retired) Manmohan Bahadur tweeted.
Some on social media drew attention to the sudden silence of students to the Union Minister’s call for “mananiya Modi Ji zindabad”.
From Bucharest in Romania and Budapest in Hungary, two C-17 aircraft carrying 210 passengers landed at Hindon this morning.
Under the operation Ganga, the evacuation process is currently being carried out. In the last 24 hours, 15 flights have landed in India and brought back 3000 Indians Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
18 flights including three C-17 Indian Airforce Aircraft are scheduled to fly with stranded Indians within the next 24 hours.
There will be seven flights from Romania’s capital Bucharest, five from Budapest in Hungary, three from Rzeszow in Poland, and one from Košice in Slovakia.
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