Retd Army officer backs Lt Gen Hooda, says military ops shouldn't be politicized

Retired Brigadier Bal Krishna Yadav on Saturday came out in support of Retired Lieutenant General DS Hooda's views on the surgical strike that was conducted in 2016.

Speaking to ANI, Yadav said: "I respect and appreciate the views of Lt General Hooda, who very correctly has said that all military operations, specially the special forces operations, should never be a part of political discussions as it affects the morale of the forces and also compromises national security to an extent. The morale of the troops must always be kept in my mind."

On Friday, retired Lieutenant General Hooda opined that the hype associated with the surgical strike was not needed. Further elaborating upon the intricacy of the surgical strike, Yadav had said that the operation was not something that was carried out for the first time.

"Operations of the army must be left with the army. Such operations have always been a part of our military in order to dominate the line of control. The surgical strike was carried by 70-80 people out of an army of around 13-14 lakh. This does not warrant for a discussion at the national level. All that the countrymen must know is that we have avenged the Uri attack," he asserted.

Hitting out at the political parties for politicising army operations, Yadav added, "The discussion on Army's success and failure, I think began in 2012, when the Pakistanis had beheaded two of our soldiers. It was at that time the political parties had made it a point of discussion, resulting in the lowering of morale of the Indian Army. Army retaliates at its own time and place. I feel all military operations should not be made a point of discussion for political benefit by the government or by the opposition.