Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday claimed that a photograph of the Pakistan Army surrendering before India in the 1971 war has been removed from the Army headquarters.

“The first issue I want to discuss is that this government should raise its voice against the atrocities committed against the Hindu and Christian minorities in Bangladesh, it should hold talks with them and take their support. The second issue is that today, a picture has been taken down from the headquarters of the Army in which the Pakistani Army is surrendering in front of the Indian Army…Today is Vijay Diwas,” the Wayanad MP was quoted by ANI as saying in the Lok Sabha.

The Wayanad MP remembered the role of soldiers and martyrs who fought the war of 1971 between India and Pakistan.

Vijay Diwas is celebrated every year on December 16 to commemorate India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war. The war also resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh.

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Cong moves adjournment motion notice

Earlier in the day, Congress MP Manickam Tagore moved an adjournment motion notice on the same issue. He said the removal of the photograph, which commemorates the historic surrender of Pakistani forces in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on December 16, 1971, “is not only troubling but is a direct affront to the historical memory of this monumental event.”

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According to a PTI report, he urged the central government to “immediately” restore the photograph to its original position.

On December 16, 1971, Pakistan Army’s AAK Niazi signed the instrument of surrender in Dhaka after the 13-day India-Pakistan War.

This resulted in the surrender of over 93,000 soldiers, and the Pakistan Army’s capitulation against Indian forces was complete. 

(With PTI, ANI inputs)