Opinion Need To Ask Some Questions

Significantly, none of the questions raised by the BJP in the press conference has been refuted so far, leave alone answered with verifiable facts and evidence, either by Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi or by former Vice President Hamid Ansari himself. Let us deal with the issues raised by the BJP on merit rather than an emotional outburst not based on fact. Let us be driven by national interest and facts.

There are some key questions that ought to be answered:

Why should Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi not answer to the nation regarding the lapse of the then Congress government in granting visa to a Pakistani journalist who has admitted to sharing sensitive information with the ISI?

Should Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, as leaders of the Congress party, not share the reason why a visa was granted to a Pakistani journalist of such dubious background on five different occasions?

Why were visa norms blatantly violated to grant him a visa to visit seven cities in India, rather than the customary three? What was so special about Nusrat Mirza?

Why was he granted visa to attend a seminar in India to discuss the issue of terrorism in 2009? This is even more unfortunate considering that just 11 months before the seminar, India had faced the dastardly 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Was the then ruling party attempting to take lessons on how to eradicate terrorism in India from Pakistan?

Why did Hamid Ansari, the then Vice President, share the dais with such a dubious, ISI-sponsored journalist?

Why did senior ministers of the Congress government participate in the seminar and share the stage with a Pakistani journalist having links with the ISI?

These are questions that must be answered by the persons concerned who have held high constitutional office. The higher the position, the greater the responsibility. The response from Hamid Ansari that he never knew or invited Pakistan journalist Nusrat Mirza to any conference on any other occasion raises a million more questions, especially in light of the facts which have surfaced recently.

The BJP has simply fulfilled its duty by raising these very important issues. Now, as the fourth pillar of democracy, it is the turn of not just The Indian Express but all leading media publications to direct these pertinent questions to the persons who were in power during the period in question and who may have jeopardised national security by rolling out a red carpet to ISI agents.

Whatever appropriate action needs to be taken should be best left to the respective agencies who enjoy full autonomy under the current dispensation.

Raising of these issues by the BJP was an excellent opportunity for the persons concerned to come clean by offering answers backed by verifiable facts. It is unfortunate that the Congress, Hamid Ansari and even The Indian Express decided to shoot the messenger instead.

BJP has always worked on the principle that no matter how high and mighty one may be, the interest of the nation is supreme. It is this mantra that has ensured the people’s faith in the leadership of Narendra Modi.

The strong government led by Modi has given timely and befitting responses to Pakistan by conducting surgical strikes and Balakot air strike, and it does not require a certificate from any entity — as it firmly enjoys the support of the Indian citizenry. Neither will the BJP stoop low — nor will India ever crawl.

Responsible publications need to decide whether they wish to indulge in fact-less opinion mongering or follow time-tested best practices of journalism.

The writer is national spokesperson. BJP  and a senior advocate