V.K. Singh terms 2012 ‘coup’ report ‘treason’, writes to PM for probe

New Delhi, Feb 7 (IANS) Union Minister and former Army chief Gen V.K. Singh on Thursday said he has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a high-level probe into reports about the alleged Army coup in 2012 during the UPA-II regime, saying it amounts to "treason".

"Yesterday, I wrote to the Prime Minister that this was treason and such people need to be exposed by a high-level inquiry," Gen Singh (retd) said here.

His letter to the Prime Minister came after a media report said that some leaders in the UPA-II government had sought to build a false narrative that the Army was planning a "coup" when he was the Army chief in early 2012.

Singh, who is the Minister of State for External Affairs, told reporters here that he had already said in 2012 that nothing like this had happened and that the Indian Army does not even think of such things.

He said then Defence Minister A.K. Antony had also said that "nothing like this happened".

Singh said he had written to the Home Ministry in 2013 seeking an FIR following publication of the report in an English daily about movement of "key Army units" towards Delhi without notifying the government.

The latest expose has come out because "facts are hidden by people for some purpose", he said, adding: "Now let law take its own course."

Singh had also written a Facebook post on Wednesday, saying that the "Home Ministry ignored" his complaints during the UPA rule.

"When Mr Coupta (sic) was recruited by the powers-behind-the-scenes to cleverly imply I was planning a coup," Singh said it was also "the time-honoured tactic that had been in vogue to set Nehru versus Thimayya, Shastri versus Chaudhuri, or Indira Gandhi versus Manekshaw."

"However, earlier these were usually just whispers... which were damaging enough. However, in Mr Coupta's case, by splashing it across banner headlines, this was nothing short of treason, for the gentleman was willing to openly destroy the institution of the army to achieve personal objectives. With those in power backing Couptaji then, virtually all institutional platforms of redress were not available to me, even though I was the serving Chief of the Army and the fact that even the RM, Shri AK Antony, had rubbished the coup report in the Rajya Sabha," he said.

Gen Singh said his complaint with Home Ministry not only categorically asked for an inquiry, it also spelt out the damage being done to other institutions like the TSD (Technical Services Division) "that was subsequently hounded "and crucified."

"The Home Ministry ignored the complaint, so did the Press Council who right from the start privately said they could not turn against their own. Irony is that Mr Coupta went on to head that illustrious body!"

"Time is a funny thing... many of us have forgotten the crippling level of corruption that had brought India to its knees. The same people, who for generations have treated our country's coffers as their private jagir, are today again trying to derail the new systems which are now desperately trying to redress and undo the years of crippling damage, repeatedly saying things which are not true. So long as this continues, we as a people will continue to pay a terrible price."

He said though six years have passed, there should be a detailed inquiry and the guilty brought to book.

"The ageold saying that truth must always prevail is timeless. It's a shame so many people who played games and falsified news, are even today not accountable. In the interest of our country's future where fake news is such a major threat, it is imperative to take action at the very root of this evil especially when all the evidence is there in the public domain," he said.

Asked about his comments on Singh's Facebook post, senior journalist Shekhar Gupta, who was one of the authors of the article and was then the Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, said he was not in Delhi and questions should be put to the English daily as it was their story.