Ex-DRDO (The Defense Research and Development Organization) Chief V.K. Saraswat, who is also a member of the NITI Aayog has recently remarked that the internet shutdown in J&K did not have any significant economic impact.
Saraswat’s remarks have kicked up a storm, as he is one of the most high-profile and controversial former chiefs of the DRDO, a key player behind the development of the Prithvi missile, a Padma Bhushan awardee, and the chancellor of JNU.
The state of J&K has allegedly been under an internet lockdown since August, after the Narendra Modi government scrapped Article 370 and divided it into two union territories. But Saraswat’s recent remark that suspension of internet services in the state did not have a “significant effect” on the economy because it was used to only watch “gandi filmein (dirty films)” has kicked up a storm.
As many slammed him for his statement and called him being insensitive. However, it is not the first time Saraswat has found himself embroiled in some controversy.
Earlier this month, when the students and teachers at JNU were attacked by masked goons, reportedly in connection with the fee hike protests at the university, that time also in an interview Saraswat said, “When intellectuals react without understanding things, it’s a matter of concern.”
Not just that, he was allegedly involved in a row last year too, when Prime Minister Modi announced the Anti-Satellite weapons test days following the Model Code of Conduct for the general elections came into force. During that time also, Saraswat said that Manmohan Singh’s UPA government had not given a go-ahead for the mission due to “fear psychosis”, even though it had the wherewithal.
However, the politically-loaded statement was refused as “factually inaccurate” by Saraswat’s own former colleagues at DRDO. They even criticized Saraswat for dragging the DRDO into a political brawl.
