Parrikar lifts Defence's morale, asks soldiers to 'shoot enemy, not wait to be martyred'

Panaji, Nov 21: Lifting the morale of the Defence forces, minister Manohar Parrikar has given a free reign to armed forces to shoot anyone sighted with a gun.

Addressing BJP's election rally at Vasco, he said, "When I took over as the Defence minister, the first thing I told them (soldiers) that if you see machine gun or pistol in anyone's hand, don't expect that he has come to say hello to you. Before you get martyred, you should eliminate him."

Claiming that the morale of the Army has gone up since Modi has become the PM of India, Parrikar said,"In Kashmir our army was fighting with the terrorists. Congress government had given them direction that till they (terrorist) fires bullet on you, you don't retaliate."

"Our soldiers now don't need to seek permission from the Defence Ministry to fire at the person who fires at them. They have complete power and they are giving apt reply to our enemy. I feel bad that some of our soldiers are martyred."

Mounting sarcasm against the opposition, he said, "I was initially not understanding how Defence ministry works. It took 6-8 months for me after that I understood."

OneIndia News