from February 1966 till the Force was withdrawn.”^28 The killing of In-
dian peacekeepers created a major uproar in parliament. Passions ran
high. In a hard- hitting statement, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi squarely
blamed Israel for the death of the Indian peacekeepers. Expressing “grief
and indignation” over the incident, she attributed the death to a “wanton
Israeli artillery attack and subsequent strafi ng by Israeli aircraft.” She de-
scribed the attack as “deliberate and without provocation in spite of clear
and unmistakable UN markings and identifi cation of our contingent.”
Calling on the United Nations to ensure “their safety and early evacua-
tion from the area of confl ict,” she declared: “There can be no justifi ca-
tion for Israeli armed forces to have attacked our forces, whose where-
abouts, identifi cation markings and intention to withdraw were clearly
known to the Israeli authorities.”^29
Foreign Minister Chagla told lawmakers that the government had
registered a formal complaint with the Israeli government over the at-
tack on the UNEF. A protest note was given to the Israeli ambassador in
Moscow by his Indian counterpart; a copy was handed over to the Israeli
consul in Bombay.^30 Subsequently, India rejected Israel’s off er to pay com-
pensation to the victims because “Israel refused to accept responsibility
for the attack.” Partly concurring with Indian anger, Maj. Gen. Inder Jit
Rikhye, the commander of the UNEF in Gaza, observed that Indian
troops
were equally incensed by the allegations made by the Israelis and
taken up by the Jews and pro- Jewish elements in other parts of the
world, notably in the United States, that the Indian contingent had
sided with the Arab forces in Gaza. The allegations were made with-
out any foundation, and had apparently been triggered by incorrect
reports fi led by foreign press sources in Cairo to the eff ect that India
and Yugo slavia had ordered unilateral withdrawal of their forces on
16th May when General [Mahmoud] Fawzy’s letter was delivered to
me. There were also reports, equally inaccurate, that India at the
United Nations had urged the immediate withdrawal of UNEF, once
Egypt had requested it. In fact, India’s permanent representative [in
New York], Ambassador G. Parthasarathy, in advising the Secretary-
General had agreed with his Yugo slav colleague that Egypt had the
right to withdraw its consent for the continued presence of UNEF on
its soil, yet had expressed caution on the question of the actual withdrawal
of the Force.^31208 the years of hardened hostility, 1964–1984