Mani shankar Aiyar, Salman Khurshid behaving like ISI, IS propagandists, says BJP
BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said they are trying to gain lost ground by visiting ISI headquarters, which is an “insult to India and its nationalist Muslims”.
Salman Khurshid
The BJP on Tuesday accused senior Congress leaders Mani Shankar Aiyar and Salman Khurshid of “behaving like ISI and IS propagandists”, and asked the party to clarify if it subscribes to the views expressed by the two leaders.
Alleging that there is a “hate India” constituency within India, BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said they are trying to gain lost ground by visiting ISI headquarters, which is an “insult to India and its nationalist Muslims”.
“It seems that these people are behaving and conducting themselves as propagandists for ISI and IS or Taliban,” said Lekhi. “The BJP strongly condemns such anti-national acts of the Congress party and seeks an explanation from their leadership about these critical issues,” she said.
Lekhi was referring to Aiyar’s reported comments on the terrorist attacks in Paris, and Khurshid’s criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event in Islamabad.
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The BJP also targeted Aiyar for his remarks on Modi. Participating in a panel discussion on a Pakistani news channel, Duniya TV, earlier this month, Aiyar said Modi needs to be removed for the peace process between India and Pakistan to move forward. He was responding to a question on
what should be done to end the current impasse between India and Pakistan.
“Pehle to Modi ko nikalo. Nahin to baat aage badhne wali nahin hai… Humme char saal aur intezaar karna hoga. Yeh sab bade optimistic hain ki Modi Saab ke rehte hue hum aage badh sakte hain. Mujhko nahin lagta. (Remove Modi first. If not, the talks will not go forward… We will have to wait for four more years. They (referring to other panelists) are all very optimistic that we can move forward while Modi is PM. But I don’t think so,”) he replied.
“Bring us (Congress) back to power and remove them. There is no other way (to better relations). We will remove them, but till then you (Pakistan) have to wait,” he said.
“I feel Mani Shankar Aiyar has lost his mental balance to tell this to a Pakistani channel. Aiyar’s statement is not only an insult to the Prime Minister but also to the nation,” said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.
The Congress denied Aiyar’s statement. “This is absolutely nonsense. I have a letter written by Aiyar in which he categorically denies saying anything like that. So there is no question of distancing from it,” said party spokesperson Tom Vadakkan.
Terming the remarks as “extremely serious, worrisome and completely incorrect,” BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said, “what is even more worrisome is that two senior Congress leaders, first Khurshid, who was the former external affairs minister, and now Aiyar, within a week’s span have given such a statement in a nation which is clearly anti-India and has even perpetrated terror in India. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi should react to this and let the country know their stand on the issue,” he said.
Speaking at the Jinnah Institute in Islamabad last week, Khurshid had praised Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while taking a dig at the Modi government. Sharif is “genuinely committed to peace with India and has more than once put himself in considerable discomfort to find an opening beyond pious incantations,” said Khurshid. “I am somewhat disappointed that the Indian establishment has done precious little in recent months to fortify his endeavour,” he said.
Stating that Modi “has little experience of conversations with people other than his admirers or those who are accustomed to merely taking orders,” he said, “diplomatic challenges are often quite different in the nature of conversations that need to be undertaken.”
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