BJP, Cong spar amid demands for apology

Pakistani- American terrorist David Coleman Headley’s revelations about Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in an encounter in Gujarat in 2004, on Thursday led to a political slugfest with the BJP demanding that the Congress leadership apologise for “targeting Narendra Modi over her killing at the cost of national security”.

The Congress dismissed the BJP’s demand, insisting that the “fundamental question” was whether she and her accomplices were killed in a “fake” encounter. Meanwhile, Union home ministry officials said the charge that Ishrat was a terrorist has been corroborated by Headley.

However, Headley’s disclosures on Ishrat carry little evidential value as his statement was based on hearsay, which carries no weight even though he was making the statement under CrPC Section 164, the officials felt.

David Headley’s revelations regarding Ishrat Jahan ignited a fresh political row in Bihar, with leaders of the NDA trying to corner chief minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Yadav and demanding a public apology from them for addressing her as “daughter of Bihar”.

While referring to Headley’s statement on Ishrat, the BJP on Thursday mounted an attack on the Grand Secular Alliance government accusing them for playing with national security by defending her after she was killed in an encounter in Gujarat in 2004.

“Nitish and Lalu once claimed Ishrat Jahan as Bihar’s daughter and condemned the Gujarat government for her encounter. Now Nitish should react,” senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi tweeted.

Earlier, Union minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh slammed the chief minister and his other colleagues for doing “votebank politics” after Ishrat was killed in the encounter. He said, “Nitish must come forward and apologise after this revelation.”