BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and claimed that Rajesh Pilot flew the Indian Air Force plane that bombed the capital of Mizoram in 1966.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot dismissed the claims made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT cell chief Amit Malviya concerning his late father, Rajesh Pilot, a prominent Congressman, on Tuesday, August 15. Malviya had taken to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and shared a video clip from a news channel suggesting that Rajesh Pilot and Suresh Kalmadi were pilots flying Indian Air Force (IAF) planes during the bombing of Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, on March 5, 1966. Sachin Pilot refuted Malviya’s assertions, pointing out inaccuracies in both dates and facts.
A video clip shared by Malviya had quoted that both Rajesh and Suresh eventually became Members of Parliament and ministers within the Congress on its tickets. Malviya’s post had insinuated that the late Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister, granted political positions as a form of reward to those who had carried out air raids against their own people in the North East.
“It is clear that Indira Gandhi gave a place in politics as a reward, gave respect to those who carried out air raids on their own people in the North East,” he had captioned the video on Twitter.
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In response, Sachin wrote that his father did drop bombs, but not on Aizwal as claimed by Malviya. “Yes, as an Indian Air Force pilot, my late father did drop bombs. But that was on erstwhile East Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pak war and not as you claim, on Mizoram on the 5th of March 1966. He was commissioned into the IAF only on 29th October 1966!” Sachin clarified.
Notably, the recent episode echoes a parliamentary exchange wherein the Congress defended former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s accusation that she had employed the IAF to bomb Mizoram. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh had previously defended Indira Gandhi’s decision in March 1966 to tackle secessionist forces in Mizoram that had garnered support from Pakistan and China. Ramesh characterised PM Modi’s criticism as “pathetic” and highlighted Indira’s efforts in initiating negotiations that culminated in a Peace Accord signed in 1986, effectively saving the situation in Mizoram.