NEW DELHI: BJP national president Amit Shah has attacked the Congress party over the issue of national security and accused the main opposition party of always being soft on terrorism.
Targeting Rahul Gandhi-led Congress, the BJP chief alleged that the main opposition party had always been “hesitant about terrorism, separatism and Naxalism”.
Shah made these remarks in a strongly-worded blog in which he reiterated that while Congress has always been soft on terror, the Narendra Modi-led NDA government has firmly dealt with the issue of terrorism.
In his lengthy blog, Shah attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi and accused him of politicising the Kandahar hijacking case for political gains at a time when the international community has mounted enormous pressure on Pakistan to act against the Jaish-e-Mohammad founder, Masood Azhar.
It may be recalled that Masood’s JeM had claimed the responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in which at least 40 troopers were killed.
The BJP president maintained while India has used all diplomatic channels to build more pressure on Pakistan and isolate it at the global levels, parties like Congress were making statements favouring the neighbouring country.
“This shabby face of Pakistan has been exposed before the world…. In such a situation, Pakistan has been totally isolated… vis a vis terrorist mastermind Masood Azhar and his organization Jaish-e-Mohammad,” he said in his blog.
He continued by saying that some political parties, including the Congress, were questioning the government, raising doubts over the valour of the armed forces, which was “just helping terrorists”.
In the later part of his blog, the BJP president accused the Congress party of providing their consent to the then government to release terrorist like Masood Azhar.
He alleged that then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh were part of the all-party meeting in which they had agreed to release Masood Azhar to bring back the passengers held hostage at Kandahar.
Shah also sought to remind that 10 years before the Kandahar flight hijacking, the then Congress government had released 10 terrorists in exchange for then Home Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed`s daughter Rubaiya Sayeed.
Training his guns at Rahul Gandhi, Shah said the Congress chief has been blaming the BJP for the release of JeM founder Masood Azhar during the earlier NDA government but before making such “insensitive remarks” he should think about the mistakes committed by his own party.
Shah further said that the decisions of his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru on China and Kashmir had “turned into cancer for the country”.
The hard-hitting blog from the BJP chief came after Rahul Gandhi asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not telling the nation that it was the earlier National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which had released Azhar – the man behind the Pulwama suicide bombing.
Gandhi made these remarks while addressing a public rally in Gandhinagar.
Shah added that by raising such questions, Rahul Gandhi was not just “displaying his insensitivity” but also questioning the ”wisdom of senior leaders of his own party.”
“This debate does not start nor end with the release of Masood Azhar. This list is long, and if discussed, the Congress will look like the guilty party,” he wrote in the blog.
Bureau Report
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