Rahul Gandhi Writes Letters to Families of 20 Martyred Soldiers

"As we mourn the loss of a national hero, I salute your courage in the face of tragedy," reads one of the letters.

Letter written by Rahul Gandhi to the family of martyred soldier.

(Photo: ANI/Altered by The Quint)

Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi has written letters to the families of 20 Indian soldiers who lost their lives in a violent face-off between India and China on Monday, 15 June, night at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, ANI reported.

In one of the letters shared by ANI, Gandhi wrote to the wife of Havildar Thiru K Palani, "We will never forget his patriotism and spirit. He gave his life to the nation to ensure that every Indian citizen can live in peace and freedom."

"As we mourn the loss of a national hero, I salute your courage in the face of tragedy," he added.

Earlier, on Tuesday, Gandhi had tweeted saying, "Words cannot describe the pain I feel for the officers and men who sacrificed their lives for our country. My condolences to all their loved ones. We stand with you in this difficult time."

Gandhi, along with his other party members including Sonia Gandhi, have been questioning the government over the face-off that took place at the Indo-China border.

On Thursday, he retweeted an interview by Hindustan Times’ National and Political Editor Sunetra Choudhary with Lt Gen (Retd) HS Panag on the Indo-China clashes and asked, “How dare China kill our UNARMED soldiers? Why were our soldiers sent UNARMED to martyrdom?”

In a reply to Gandhi, Union Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar said, “Let us get the facts straight. All troops on border duty always carry arms, especially when leaving post. Those at Galwan on 15 June did so. Long-standing practice (as per 1996 & 2005 agreements) not to use firearms during faceoffs.”