New Delhi, Jun 12 (IANS): After 71 armed forces veterans issued a strong statement against former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, questioning his "motivation" for making a controversial statement on Chinese incursion, the Congress has questioned the bonafide of such people and demanded that they should show their affiliation.

Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "Please do not write only Lt Gen and Major Gen but mention with which organisation you are affiliated to."

Singhvi said that not only Rahul Gandhi, but the whole nation was asking such questions.

While the Congress leaders stepped up the pressure, Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "China attacked India in 2 phases starting Oct 20 1962. Vajpayee & others wrote to Nehru demanding Parliament be convened. Nehru readily accepted & listened to blistering criticism of his policies. Now we have Maunendra Modi. Not even a briefing to former PMs/pol party leaders!"

Thiruvananthpuram MP Shashi Tharoor said, "Parliamentary oversight and accountability amount to an irrelevant inconvenience for a government that believes it is infallible. How far has our democracy fallen!"

Earlier, the veteran army personnel said in a statement, "At the outset, we wish to condemn such undesirable and deplorable tweets/comments by a person who has no idea as to how our soldiers work in the world's most difficult and unfriendly terrain."

It added, "Rahul Gandhi should never forget 1962, when the country was headed by none other than his great grandfather Shri Jawaharlal Nehru and we were not only caught totally unprepared but had to suffer very humiliating defeat at the hands of China, despite the fact that our soldiers fought valiantly and caused huge casualties to China."

The veterans included AVM Sanjib Bordoloi, Air Commodore S.S. Saxena, and Brigadier Dinkar Adeeb, among others.