A section of Parliament members on Wednesday demanded the removal of Chief of Army, General V.K. Singh.
They were reacting to the publication of a ‘leaked' letter that the Army Chief wrote to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, purportedly expressing concern over the country's defence preparedness.
Making a statement in the Rajya Sabha for the second day on the issue, the Defence Minister, Mr A.K Antony, said General Singh had written to the Prime Minister on March 12, on matters relating to national defence and security.
“These issues are being examined in the Ministry of Defence. By their very nature, such issues cannot form the subject of public debates. Publishing the contents of secret communications within the Government cannot serve our national security,” he told the Upper House.
Mr Antony said the country's defence preparedness was always strong and assured the House that the Government would do everything necessary to ensure that the defence forces are provided, equipped and trained to be amongst the best fighting forces in the world.
Opposition leader, Mr Arun Jaitley, senior political leaders, Mr Sitaram Yechury, Mr Pyarimohan Mohapatra and Mr Shivanand Tiwari urged the Defence Minister to ensure that defence procurement would be done in a transparent manner.
“The Government has been continuously making amends to the defence procurement procedures, and we have been regularly tightening any loose ends that may be there in the procedure,” Mr Antony said.
Outside the House, senior politicians, including some Ministers, criticised General Singh.
“When the common man reads that the defence forces have no ammunition and cannot defend the country, he finds it scary,” leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Ms Sushma Swaraj, said.
“The Army Chief could not get an extension even by the court,” the Overseas Affairs Minister, Mr Vayalar Ravi, said. SP and JD(U) demanded the removal of General Singh.