Congress cornered on Pakistani boat issue, says Parrikar

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar Saturday took a dig at the Congress over its raising questions on government's version on an intruding Pakistani boat intercepted off the Gujarat coast Dec 31 last year and said the opposition party took a stand which put it in a corner.

Parrikar told Times Now television that government had enough evidence to satisfy itself that the occupants of boat had set it on fire.

Referring to the video released by Coast Guard Friday to reaffirm the government's assertion that the vessel was set on fire by its occupants, he said had the boat been fired at, it would have sunk in 15-30 minutes.

"This boat was burning for almost three-and-a-half hours. The idea (of the occupants) was to burn the evidence," he said.

The video released Friday showed the boat in flames without any apparent damage to its structure that could have been caused by any shelling.

Parrikar said the Coast Guard had followed the standing operating procedures.

Asked about Congress leaders asking questions from the government, Parrikar said that the opposition party took a stand "which slowly put them in a corner".

He said it was for the Congress to get satisfied and he cannot satisfy them.

"It is very easy to wake up a person who is asleep but very difficult to wake a person who pretends to be asleep," he said.

Coast Guard DIG B.K. Loshali had sparked off controversy with his remarks - captured on video - that he ordered the Pakistani boat be blown up.

The Coast Guard Friday ordered a board of inquiry (BoI) into Loshali's purported remarks, which he had denied later.

The government had then found itself in a spot over Loshali's remarks.Parrikar had said he would inquire into the matter while indicating possible disciplinary action against the officer.He also said the government "stands by its statement" that the boat was blown up by the "suspected terrorists" themselves and was prepared to release evidence to this effect.

Congress leaders Friday continued to pose questions to the government after the release of the video. Party leader Manish Tewari said the explanation by the government in its entirety still leaves a large number of questions unanswered, including on the "actionable intelligence" with the government, the identity of the terrorists and their organisation, and their planned operations in India.

"There is absolutely nothing from the government which tells the whole story with regard to the terrorist intent of those people allegedly on that boat," he said.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party had congratulated the Coast Guard for its heroic act and sought a clear statement from the defence minister, while another party leader Rajeev Shukla said that the government should have released the video earlier, holding any delay "always creates a suspicion in minds of people".