Parrikar must apologise to the army, says Congress

The Congress party on Thursday demanded that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar must apologise to the armed forces for making them build infrastructure for the Art of Living event in the national capital.

The Congress party in Goa claimed that the Indian Army's soldiers were reduced to "corporate slaves".

"Indian Army soldiers are our pride, they are not slaves of a government or a corporation," Goa Congress spokesperson Sunil Kawthankar said in a statement issued here.

"Their services for disaster management, humanitarian relief work or for any national event organised by government is understood, but using services of military personnel to build infrastructure for a private event has set a very bad precedent," he added.

Kawthankar said that Parrikar, former Goa chief minister, "must apologise to the nation and the Indian Army" for lowering the latter's stature and dignity.

A mega structure built for spiritual Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Foundation in the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi has attracted controversy over irregularities committed during the construction of the infrastructure for the event, which around two million people are expected to attend.