A day ahead of the all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the situation along the China borders, the Opposition stepped up the criticism against the Centre. The parties demanded an explanation from the Prime Minister for the deaths of Indian soldiers. The Opposition leaders said they will take a common stand after hearing the Centre’s presentation of the facts at the meeting on Friday.

The Defence Ministry has reached out to the leaders of Opposition saying that the meeting will be convened at 5 pm on Saturday. The Prime Minister will brief the leaders about the attacks and aggression by Chinese forces at the borders close to Ladakh.

Congress’s former president Rahul Gandhi asked the Prime Minister to tell the nation why soldiers were sent without arms to the line of control. “How dare China kill our unarmed soldiers? Why were our soldiers sent UNARMED to martyrdom?,” he asked.

Army protocol flouted?

AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said the country’s valiant soldiers were martyred and the soul of Bharat Mata has been hurt. “Why were our brave Army officers and soldiers sent unarmed? Who gave this order to our valiant soldiers? There is an established army protocol that whenever Army officers and soldiers are sent unarmed, they are provided an armed backup force. The question is, if backup force was available, why was it not sent?,” he asked.

Left condemns attack

The Left parties said they will wait for Modi’s explanation. “We have condemned the attacks on our soldiers. The PM must explain how did this happen. We will take a view after hearing the explanation of the Prime Minister,” said CPI general secretary D Raja.