Naidu attacks Chidambaram over Kashmir
NAIDU’S ONSLAUGHT INDICATES ESCALATING BATTLE OF WORDS BETWEEN BJP AND CONG IN POLL SEASON
Information and broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday trained his guns on former home minister P Chidambaram over his comments on the Kashmir situation, questioning the Congress party’s stand on the strife-torn border state.
Speaking at a function in Hyderabad on Friday, Chidambaram said he had a sinking feeling that India had nearly lost Kashmir due to the use of excessive force by the security forces to crush dissent there.
Reacting to the Congress leader’s comments, Naidu said, “He knows about the fragile situation in Kashmir as he has also served as the home minister. It is wrong to make such statements and not in the best interest of the country.”
Naidu’s onslaught indicates an escalating war of words between the BJP and the Congress when the two are locked in an electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh and other states.
Chidambaram said course correction was required to prevent the Kashmir situation from worsening. Condemning his statement, Naidu said, “We want to ask the Congress party what is their stand on Kashmir?”
Chidambaram also criticised army chief General Bipin Rawat’s comments that those who hinder counter-insurgency operations or display flags of The acquittal of two accused in the 2005 Delhi serial blasts is one of the many cases of miscarriage of justice, in which those charged by the police have been found innocent by courts. ››P13 Pakistan and the Islamic State in Kashmir will be considered “anti-national.”
The government backed Rawat, saying the military had “full freedom” to conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations.
Naidu asked, “Is it wrong what he (Rawat) said against the terrorists? And are the terrorists right?”
He also condemned National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah who on Friday attacked the Peoples Democratic Party for stitching up an alliance with the BJP, saying people would not tolerate it as late chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had promised the party would not ally with “communal forces”.
Dubbing Abdullah “opportunist,” Naidu said he had changed his tone as he was no longer in power.
The Congress stood behind Chidambaram and Abdullah, accusing the Centre of turning a blind eye to the turmoil in J&K.
“Farooq Abdullah knows the youth of Kashmir and he has highlighted the reality and what Chidambaram had said is also right,” Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said. Economist and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen talks about the importance of dissent in public life, academic autonomy, electoral reform and other challenges in a freewheeling interview. ››P15