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Will not speak to media for 6 months: Indian defence minister

Parrikar says he will not speak much because if he speaks people scrutinise his statements

Web Desk June 21, 2015

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Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who was recently under media scrutiny for his controversial statements vowed on Saturday to not speak to the media for six months.

"I will not speak much. Because if I speak, people start looking for things (in it)," the India defence minister said, following criticism over comments he made on a range of different issues.

Read: Indian defence minister’s statement

Parrikar, who has been in Goa since the past three days, attended a government function nearby, where he was asked to comment on certain issues, particularly the issue of target killings in Kashmir’s Sopore town and the Rafale deal. The former Goa chief minister, who rarely shies away from offering a comment to the media, said he was not going to "speak to the media for six months".

The Indian defence minister's statement claiming New Delhi would use terrorism to counter terrorism from other countries shocked many.

Read: Indian defence minister’s comments shock Sartaj

Pakistan expressed concern over Parrikar's statement with the premier's senior aide Sartaj Aziz claiming, "This statement [of Parrikar] only confirms Pakistan’s apprehensions about India’s involvement in terrorism in Pakistan.”

Parrikar had asserted that terrorists have to be neutralised only through terrorists. “India will take proactive steps to prevent a 26/11 type attack,” he had said.

Further, earlier this month, a war of words broke out between the opposition Congress and India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) defence minister over use of words. Asking ministers to stop making “boastful and jingoistic” statements on the Army operation in Myanmar, Congress spokesman Ananad Sharma requested Indian PM Narendra Modi to mentor them. Sharma faulted Parrikar’s statement saying he has “foot-in-mouth” disease and is in the “habit” of making “irresponsible” statements.

Read: Parrikar has foot-in-mouth disease: Congress

This article originally appeared on NDTV.

COMMENTS (20)

Milind | 8 years ago | Reply @Sarmad Hassan - "of course people will scrutinise you over silly and irresponsible statements" Actually these were well-thought/crafted statements and Pakistanis fell into the trap, by responding to it. He has given you enough to chew for the next 6 months, hence he's keeping quiet.

Mehra | 8 years ago | Reply At last, Indian Defence Minister realized the importance of careful uttering of words. In fact, he realized that it is not always feasible to remain in news headlines all the time. He gets fame but at the cost of his irresponsible and erratic behavior which literally provoke tensions between the two neighboring as well nuclear countries largely dominated with the historic rivalry. Although it is very late that Indian Ministers realized that not to make any provocative statements just merely to live in the newspapers. So Parrikar realized this and made a wise decision to remain quite at least for six decades. No one would be surprised that after six months a new statements to gain fame comes in from his side.

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Schumaila | 8 years ago | Reply Plz stop interfering in our country and Pakistan will become peaceful without doing Yoga.

kumar | 8 years ago | Reply Whatever he speaks, he speaks wrong. There is a trend in India that bashing against Pakistan increases the fame of leader. Indian defense minister follows the same lines. Indeed, Indian defense minister may hide his poor performance by raising anti-Pakistan slogans yet he loses his credibility gradually.

Joe | 8 years ago | Reply Sorry to disappoint fellow Pakistanis but he is the future Prime Minister candidate of BJP after Narendra Modi.

Ria | 8 years ago | Reply If the defense minister was surely the officially designated person of India's government then the statements he gave cannot be underestimated because he was the representative of the Indian government and by whom he would have been delivering those very statements is itself a bigger question? A government representative must be careful and sensible enough in whatever he speaks out rather vomiting out the aggression on official forums. I think its a better example and a best eye opener to actually know the caliber of Indian government officials.

haleem | 8 years ago | Reply The facts are clear enough. Mr Modi’s and its defence minister statements are a clear indicator towards the deep-rooted terrorism they use to destabilise their neighbouring countries.

Azi | 8 years ago | Reply If this is the result of the great IIT, which teaches almost no critical thinking, good for it for producing nerds and bookworms at best. You know how hamid gul says, "either put up or shut up".

Human | 8 years ago | Reply @Anjaan: They've still got lots of it.....shutting this guys up probably won't stop them from lying

Azi | 8 years ago | Reply You know how retired Gen. Hamid Gul says to them, "Either put up or shut up!". Golden words.

just_someone | 8 years ago | Reply Is this a minister or a child who has been put on timeout or a dramaqueen who gets mad at the smallest of things!

Mrs Juicy Gossips | 8 years ago | Reply @Prakash: Rather than "humanitarian gesture", more likely a bad case of constipation. That would put the brakes on anyone's motor mouth !

Anjaan | 8 years ago | Reply Poor Indian media ... where will they get masala for twisting facts and making sensational stories now ... ??!!

VRM | 8 years ago | Reply Truth when it is spoken is always bitter. Mr Parrikar has spoken the truth which the Congress based media is unable to digest.

Liberal | 8 years ago | Reply it will be a service to humanity if he remains silent for the rest of his life.

Ridwan | 8 years ago | Reply Modi sarkar is starting to crack! How unacceptable and unprofessional for such a high ranking minister to simply vanish from media scrutiny. If he doesn't like being criticized, he should go resign.

Acorn Guts | 8 years ago | Reply @Prakash: humanitarian gesture? haha, he's clearly been given the boot. Apology was on the cards but I suppose that would have been too much.

Prakash | 8 years ago | Reply I'd say it is a very humanitarian gesture. Now Pakistan should reciprocate by asking Sartaz Aziz to do the same.

Sarmad Hassan | 8 years ago | Reply of course people will scrutinise you over silly and irresponsible statements. You are a public servant and a minister for crying out loud. Congrats India for harbouring such an idiot into a defense minister. I thought we were the only ones !

Cynic Waheed | 8 years ago | Reply So he got a 'shut up' call! Nice :)

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