Congress defeat in state bypolls made Centre revise Ishrat Jahan affidavit,says BJP

Rudy termed the reported intention of Chidambaram to file a fresh affidavit superseding the one by the earlier Home Ministry as an “attempt at minority appeasement” after the party lost five of the seven assembly seats.

Ishrat Jahan,her friend Javed Ghulam Sheikh and two alleged Pakistani terrorists were shot dead in an encounter by Gujarat Police in 2004,reportedly on a tip-off from central intelligence agencies that they were planning to target CM Modi.

“The Lashkar-e-Taiba had said on its official website that the four were their agents. Why is the central government trying to prove they were not LeT members?” Rudy asked.

Stating that an affidavit is a sworn statement given under oath,the BJP MP asked if the government had earlier submitted a “false affidavit”.

Rudy said if the Home Ministry continued to change its affidavits in this manner,no state government would take its intelligence inputs seriously.

“If the Home Ministry’s attitude — in which they keep changing their reports — continues,why would state governments give importance to them or act on them,” he said.

The leader gave the example of Mumbai terror attack,saying though Intelligence Bureau had informed the Maharashtra government of chances of infiltration and need for coastal patrolling,the latter did not take it seriously.

Rudy said the Centre was answerable for the dilemma created by the Home Minister when he trashed Intelligence Bureau reports.

The BJP also took on Law Minister Veerappa Moily,saying his statement that there was no political agenda in the Ishrat Jahan case “proves there is a larger political agenda of appeasement”.

‘Fighting terrorism is secondary for Centre’

AHMEDABAD: GUJARAT BJP president Purushottam Rupala on Wednesday accused the UPA government of preferring politics of vote bank to the national security.

Reacting to the Centre’s decision of revising the affidavit it filed before the Gujarat High Court in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case,Rupala said,“It has become evident that the Congress-led UPA Government continues to play politics of vote bank,and fighting terrorism is secondary.”

He said the development has not only posed a question mark over the Centre’s will to fight terror,but also showed its tendency to bow before terrorists. He added the move showed that the Centre lacked consistency in its stand on terrorism.

“The earlier affidavit prepared by the (Union) Home Ministry was based on intelligence inputs. Now,under whose pressure the ministry intends to revise it?” he asked.

ENS