AMBALA: Haryana home and health minister Anil Vij on Thursday said that the then political leaders had lost the 1971 war on the Shimla Agreement table by releasing Pakistan’s prisoners of war (POWs) without any negotiation related to Kashmir.
Ani Vij tweeted, “In 1971, the war won by soldiers on the battlefield was lost by the politicians at the table of Shimla Agreement. We (India) had 93,000 prisoners of war (POW), if we wanted, we could have taken POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) in return for releasing them but we did not make any bargain. This was a big mistake which we are suffering till today.”

On the other hand, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) leader Rohit Jain of Ambala reacted strongly to Vij’s tweet and said that “he is tweeting senselessly only for fake publicity”.
Talking to the media in Ambala, without naming any leaders of that time, Anil Vij said, “If we wanted, we would have done bargaining with Pakistan in exchange for release of their POWs but we did not do so and released their POWs. This was a very big mistake of that time. Our soldiers are still in the jails of Pakistan and the politicians then had not held any negotiation with them. We lost the war won on the battlefield in the Shimla agreement.”
Lashing out at Vij, HPCC’s treasurer Rohit Jain said, “Anil Vij is intentionally doing misleading propaganda related to Vijay Diwas. He should first analyse all the facts related to this matter and then tweet. It has become his habit to tweet senselessly.”
“It was due to the then Prime Minister (PM) Indira Gandhi of Congress that the Indian Army had defeated Pakistan in the war. Bangladesh was formed after this war and Pakistan had surrendered with 93,000 soldiers. In 1971, the PM was Indira Gandhi Ji and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji was the leader of opposition then. Despite being in the opposition, Vajpayee Ji had termed Indira Gandhi as ‘Durga”, said Rohit Jain.
Jain said that on one hand, the entire country including the PM and the President are celebrating the Vijay Diwas, while on the other, Haryana home minister Anil Vij is trying to mislead people by doing “absurd tweets”.
Jain said, “Anil Vij should apologise to the country on his tweet else Congress will openly oppose him.”
Jain alleged that for the fake publicity, Vij often tweets in such a way that he remains in the limelight and such tweets do not suit the state’s home minister and he should keep the truth before the public.
Indian National Congress (INC) general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala also made a tweet objecting to the celebration of the Vijay Diwas at the national level.
Surjewala tweeted on Thursday, “Modi government and Bhajpai (BJP leaders) are not deterring from their cheap politics. On the 50th Vijay-Shaurya Diwas of Bangladesh’s independence, the PM and the people of the government did not even take the name of Indira Gandhi, the “Iron Lady” of the 1971 war, which is an example of their frustrated and narrow mentality. #Bangladesh.”