Is Modi Lying About Chinese Incursion into India?

In order to take political advantage of the situation, Modi visited an army hospital in Leh where photographers were allowed to take Modi’s photos in different poses and from different angles.

By Rakesh Raman

Most defense experts, retired army officers, objective media, and satellite images reveal that the Chinese troops have occupied large swathes of Indian land during the past couple of weeks. But India’s Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi is not ready to acknowledge this harsh reality truthfully.

Although Modi has been delivering shallow rhetoric about the valor of Indian soldiers, 20 of whom were killed ruthlessly by the Chinese army on June 15 in the Galwan area of Ladakh region, he is not blaming China for the massacre on the Indian soil. In fact, Modi could not dare to name China in his televised response.

On June 19, Modi had stated that China has not entered Indian borders and the Indian posts have not been captured. “20 of our bravehearts were martyred in Ladakh but not before they taught a lesson to those who raised an eye at Bharat Mata (India),” Modi claimed, without elaborating how Indian soldiers taught a lesson.

As it was a dog whistle that Modi sent to his hysterical supporters, he did not reveal the identity of those who “raised an eye at Bharat Mata.” Thus, he blatantly defied the truth of Chinese intrusion that everybody could see except his blind followers – usually called Bhakats (Modi’s devotees).

So, is Modi lying once again? Congress leader Rahul Gandhi indicated Friday that Modi is lying. He shared a video and said that the people of Ladakh are saying that China has taken Indian land, adding that PM Modi is not ready to accept this fact.

“Ladakhis say China took our land. PM says nobody took our land. Obviously, someone is lying,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted with a video of people who claimed that China has entered Indian territory and occupied it.

Although historically India has claimed that the Galwan Valley belongs to India, Modi – with his reckless statement – surrendered that area to China, which has now formally included the Galwan area into China’s boundary.

In order to take political advantage of the situation, Modi visited an army hospital Friday in Leh / Ladakh where photographers were allowed to take Modi’s photos in different poses and from different angles.

It was, however, a purposeless visit which could not do any good to India which has lost its land and soldiers in the gory battle with China last month. Modi’s visit to Leh has also antagonized the Chinese leadership which has raised objections, saying that Modi is trying to exacerbate the situation. Reports also suggest that a fake hospital was set up for Modi to take photographs with the soldiers.

It is believed that Friday’s razzmatazz in Leh will become a major publicity tool for Modi to run his political campaign in the crucial Bihar election scheduled to take place in October. Earlier, Modi had used a similar Pulwama attack on Indian security personnel to win the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Now, with the fear of losing his clout among his blind Bhakats (followers), Modi told a lie that China has not entered and occupied Indian land. But he failed to explain how then the 20 Indian soldiers were killed and many more got injured and admitted to the hospital where Modi had the photo sessions.

A leading defense expert and a former officer in the Indian army, Ajai Shukla, said that “Modi had lied to India.” In his tweet, Shukla said, “Modi took 18 days to visit his wounded soldiers, but he finally did it. By warning China against ‘expansionism,’ Modi acknowledged that Chinese troops had intruded and that he, as PM, had lied to India 16 days ago!”

Earlier, Shukla had explained in his article how Modi’s kowtowing to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, his unilateral moves in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and his awe of China have led to China’s occupation of Indian territory in Ladakh and the killing of 20 Indian soldiers.

The Chinese attack on India is also in response to a reckless statement made by Modi’s close associate and Home Minister Amit Shah who vowed in August 2019 to shed blood for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Aksai Chin, occupied by China.

But after China’s aggressive response last month, Shah has gone into a virtual hibernation and maintained a stony silence on India-China issue. According to The Print news site, Modi-Shah’s Aksai Chin bravado activated China to cross the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and occupy the disputed territory.

While Shah is silent, Modi kept telling lies about China’s aggression. This is not the first time that Modi has told a lie. He frequently tells lies. Earlier, in December last year, he had said that his government is not making any detention centers, but there are a number of already constructed or under construction detention centers in India.

Modi had also said that his government never discussed the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which is linked to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Population Register (NPR). But it was discussed and planned by his government.

Among his other lies, Modi promised to weed out corruption from India in 50 days after announcing his reckless demonetization scheme in 2016. But the corruption has increased exponentially in the country.

Recently, on March 24, while announcing the coronavirus lockdown in India, Modi claimed that he will contain the virus in just 21 days. But after 3 months, India has become the coronavirus hotspot and now posing the infection threat to the entire world.

Modi’s lies are increasing so rapidly that a website “Modilies.in” chronicles his lies and falsehood systematically.

By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He also creates and publishes a number of digital publications and research reports on different subjects. These publications include the “Covid Health Bulletin” that covers global coronavirus news and views.