The BJP on Friday cited Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s depiction — of the Charlie Hebdo attack in France as an “obvious backlash” to the West’s war on terror — as the latest instance of the opposition party playing minority politics and abetting terrorism.
“There is no war in which the enemy does not hit back and what we are seeing is that terror groups are hitting back in the war against terror that was unleashed after the 9/11 attacks,” Aiyar had reportedly said.
Demanding an explanation from Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Aiyar’s statement is not an isolated instance of the Congress’ dubious stand on terrorism.
“They said, and I will quote: ‘How did they (the coast guard) come to the conclusion that they were terrorists?’ There was no difference between the Congress and Pakistan’s statement,” Prasad said at a press conference at the BJP headquarters here.
“And now, when the entire civilised world stands united against this heinous on freedom of speech, when India is fighting terrorism from across the border, the great Mani Shankar Aiyar has surfaced with an intriguing argument.
“What does he mean by making such a statement? We want to know from Mrs Sonia Gandhi whether this is the official stand of the Congress party. The Congress cannot distance itself from Mr Aiyar. He was a friend of Rajiv Gandhi, an eminent leader… His party must explain,” the Telecom Minister said.
Prasad recounted senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh’s support to the families of the boys killed in the Batla House encounter by the Delhi police, in which two boys were killed on September 19, 2008 and two of their flatmates were arrested.
The families of the boys, all of whom were from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, have maintained that it was a fake encounter. Digvijaya Singh had, in the past, backed the victims’ demand for a judicial probe in the incident.
“Digvijaya Singh says something in Batla House encounter. Then the former Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde talks about saffron terror (a reference to involvement of Hindu radicals in the bombing of the Samjhauta Express as well as blasts in Mecca Masjid, Malegaon and Ajmer Shrif dargah).
“What is the Congress trying to do? Are they not playing vote bank politics?” asked Prasad.
The Minister said the Congress blocked Parliament and demanded an explanation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on “a few statements made by disparate elements”.
“Where is the sense of responsibility now? We demand an explanation,” he said.
Incendiary statements To questions on the incendiary statements coming from BJP MPs and ministers like Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Sakshi Maharaj, Prasad said: “The PM himself has condemned the statements and on the Godse statement, Sakshi Maharaj apologised in Parliament. I haven’t heard anything from the Congress leadership after their members have made statements that tacitly or directly support terrorism.
“This leads us to believe there is a design to these statements.”