Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's comments on the Narendra Modi government’s handling of national security affairs after the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed was met with livid responses from the Bharatiya Janata Party and its leadership.

After over a month of cautious pause, Gandhi had posted a video of his speech on X. In it, he doubled down on his charge that the Modi government had agreed to a ceasefire with Pakistan only under pressure from US President Donald Trump. “Now, I know the BJP and RSS people very well. You put them under pressure, they chicken out and run away. For instance, when Trump called Modi and told him, ‘Narendra, Surrender,’ he readily complied,” Gandhi said. “They [Americans] didn't make a call to Indira Gandhi; instead, they had sent the 7th Fleet. She still did what she did.”

BJP reacted by saying that Gandhi was the "leader of Pakistani propaganda." BJP’s national president, J.P. Nadda, said that Gandhi's remarks are “nothing short of treason.”

Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesman of the BJP, Sudhanshu Trivedi, said, “Even Pakistan and Masood Azhar didn't use this language.”

Congress responded by saying that an attack on Modi was not an attack against India or the armed forces. But the outrage was not limited to the two parties but also included a section of the media.

The Hindu Group's director Malini Parthasarathy asked, “How long does this country have to hear the juvenile rants of this self-hating politician who puts down India at the drop of a hat? It’s not Modi he’s belittling but India.”

Columnist Tavleen Singh wrote that Rahul Gandhi’s comments are very irresponsible and are akin to a ‘schoolyard spat’.

Gandhi's comments might appear radical at a time when opposition leaders have to toe the government line for fear of the use of government agencies and more, but not too long ago, it was not really thought treasonous for an opposition leader to question the government of the day on national security matters. In fact, no lesser a leader than Narendra Modi has done it multiple times as chief minister of Gujarat, when the country was governed by the United Progressive Alliance under Manmohan Singh. 

Here are some of those times.

1) 'Drown and die', 'red eyes' and more: China

Modi had notably asked Manmohan Singh to show "lal aankh (red eyes)" to China – a line which the Congress and several commentators have since turned on Modi. 

But there were other instances when Modi attacked the UPA government on national security issues.

In 2008, at a public function, Modi asked, "How is it that the Prime Minister gets sleep when we lose so many jawans to terrorism every day?"

In August 2012, speaking at Sardar Patel University, Modi had attacked Singh’s "weak-kneed approach" to fighting terror. He said that the Union government’s policy was creating impunity for terrorists. 

In a 2013 speech questioning the alleged failure of the Singh government to protect India's borders from Chinese intrusions, Pakistan’s attacks along the Line of Control, and Bangladeshi infiltration, Modi said, “Shame on those running my country’s government; you should be ashamed. You are rubbing salt on the wounds, pouring acid on the pain of 1.25 billion Indians.”

“You will be shocked to know that the ‘Delhi Sultanate’ is ignoring the security of India because it is submerged in ‘vote bank’ politics,” he said. The ‘vote bank’ reference – a dog-whistling effort targeting Muslims – features in many of Modi's videos critiquing Singh and the Congress over national security.

Recently, Union home minister Amit Shah used it to attack Mamata Banerjee and said, “Didi opposed Operation Sindoor to please her Muslim vote bank.

Attacking Manmohan’s handling of the Bangladesh border, in the same speech, Modi had said, “Our soldiers stationed at the Bangladesh border – if they try to stop a Bangladeshi infiltrator and the infiltrator does not stop – the Indian army and BSF personnel have been stopped from using any weapons.”

On Chinese intrusions, he had said, “China, being an infiltrator, needed to return to its own land, but I am shocked that the Delhi government made an agreement where the Indian Army was also forced to retreat from its own land. This is the misfortune of our country that the government made this decision…”

Referring again to Singh, he had said, “Brothers and sisters, how can the leader of a sovereign nation, a government of 1.25 billion people, provide security to the common citizens of India with such decisions?”

In another 2013 clip, Modi is heard saying at a public address, “Drown, drown and die, the people who run the government of my country.”

Modi also said that “when our soldiers’ heads were chopped off,” the government was “serving biryani” to Pakistani guests in the name of protocol.

At another rally in Kashmir in December 2013, Modi said that the government is sleeping while Pakistan continues to kill Indians. At the same rally, Rajnath Singh called Manmohan Singh weak and accused him of compromising with the Chinese.

2) Letters on Sir Creek

During the 2012 Gujarat state elections, Modi – who was gunning for his third term as chief minister and campaigning in North Gujarat and Kutch – raked up the issue of Sir Creek and alleged that Manmohan Singh was about to give Sir Creek to Pakistan.

Sir Creek or Ban Ganga is a 96-kilometre strategic estuary between India’s Kutch and Pakistan’s Sindh. It is considered one of the largest fishing sources in Asia. It is also the cause of one of the earliest border disputes between India and Pakistan.

Writing as ‘a citizen of Gujarat’ to Singh, Modi claimed that Singh's apparent move to give Sir Creek to Pakistan would cause major national security issues. Singh did not let it slide and responded in an unusually firm letter from the PMO, which was put out in public. 

Singh wrote that Modi's allegations were false and that he did not even bother to reach out to the Indian government privately for clarifications. “The contents of the letter and the timing of its release to the public, even before it was formally received in this office,” wrote Singh, “raise questions about the motives behind its issue.”

“The writing and release of this baseless letter by the Chief Minister of Gujarat in his ‘personal’ capacity, a day before elections in the state, is mischievous,” he wrote.

3) 'Consequences' of an anti-terror law

On March 5, 2012, in a 51-minute speech titled delivered in Indore, Modi had warned the Union government not to disturb the federal structure of the Indian state, which he described as the “soul” of the Indian Constitution.

Modi expounded on how the anti-terror law discourse becomes a tool to shut down reason and questions. “When they bring a law on terrorism, then everybody has to accept it as if it is a bouquet. If they don't, they are asked, so you don’t want to fight against terrorism?” he said.

“Law and order is a state subject… This is irrefutable. The state is responsible and accountable for it. And people can ask for accountability… Through NCTC (National Counter Terrorism Centre), any IB (Intelligence Bureau) man, whether the state government knows or does not know, can search anywhere and arrest anybody. And they can run the whole world from Delhi,” he said.

He continued, “Can you imagine the consequences? And everyone was shocked [at] what was being brought through the back door. IB is one institution which is not even accountable to the Parliament! They maintain secrecy. Some things are important in national interest, but when such institutions enter the state, it can create a huge tussle between state and Centre. It is an assault on the federal structure, which gives the right to control law and order to the states.”

4) 26/11

The Wire’s Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, in a recent report, recounted how two days after the 26/11 terror attack Mumbai “Narendra Modi had arrived at the city under siege. He had reached the Oberoi Trident Hotel, one of the sites of the terror attack, that day to address the battery of mediapersons waiting outside to cover the ongoing operation.”

“Modi could be heard calling Manmohan Singh’s address to the nation a day prior disappointing, claiming that it failed to match the expectations of him as Prime Minister,” she wrote.

Even before the security operations ended, and despite the BJP’s unconditional support to the government, Modi continued to seek accountability, criticise the government, and ask questions. He even sought a meeting of all CMs with the PM to discuss internal security.

“A day later, on November 29,” Pisharoty wrote, “the BJP, keeping in mind the state elections in Rajasthan and Delhi on November 9 and December 4, 2008, also published full-page advertisements in national newspapers in blood red, with the words: “Brutal Terror Strikes at Will. Weak Government. Unwilling and Incapable. Fight Terror. Vote BJP.”

An ongoing strain

It is well known that even after Singh was no longer in power, Modi continued to attack Singh with claims of alleged Pakistani interference in the 2017 Gujarat elections, going a step beyond run-of-the-mill criticism to hint at collusion.

Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had hosted a dinner where a Pakistani envoy, former ministers, and army officials met Singh, former vice-president Hamid Ansari, and former Army Chief Deepak Kapoor, NDTV reported.

Modi somehow alleged that the former PM had discussed the Gujarat elections with the Pakistanis. Calling Modi’s allegations a “canard of lies,” Singh wrote, “I sincerely hope that the Prime Minister will show the maturity and gravitas expected of the high office he holds instead of concentrating his energy solely on erroneously conceived brownie points. I sincerely hope that he will apologise to the nation for his ill-thought transgression.”

He added, “Sadly and regrettably, Mr. Modi is setting a dangerous precedent by his insatiable desire to tarnish every constitutional office, including that of a former Prime Minister and Army Chief.”

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