“Don’t care if my career goes to hell, I won’t lie”: Rahul Gandhi on Indo-China Standoff

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said those claiming Chinese forces haven’t occupied Indian territory in Ladakh are “not nationalistic and patriotic”, and he will continue to speak the truth about Beijing’s transgressions even if his “whole political career goes to hell”.

Stepping up the attack on the government over the Chinese intrusions, Gandhi said the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continues to occupy parts of Indian territory in Ladakh.

“Now, it is pretty clear that the Chinese have entered our territory. This disturbs me. It makes frankly my blood boil. How can some other nation just come into our territory?” he said in a video message issued on Monday.

Gandhi, who has been criticised by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) for his remarks on the border standoff, said “hiding the truth” and allowing China to occupy Indian territory is “anti-national”, and bringing it to people’s attention is “patriotic”.

“If you as a politician want me to keep quiet and lie to my people… when I have seen the satellite photos… I speak to army people… If you want me to lie that Chinese have not entered the country, I simply am not going to do it. I don’t mind even if my career goes to hell. I think the people who are lying about the Chinese not entering our country are the people who are not nationalists… they are not patriotic,” he further says in an apparent dig at his critics.

India and China have been engaged in a border standoff for months now. While critics have alleged that China is currently in some parts of the Ladakh region on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control, the Modi government has claimed that there is no occupation of Indian territory.