New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP and senior spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Congress party during a press conference, alleging a “match fixing” between Pakistan’s ISI and the Indian National Congress in the context of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Trivedi quoted former Home Ministry Under Secretary RVS Mani, stating that it was a “match-fixing between Pakistan’s infamous ISI agency and Indian National Congress.” He said the UPA government’s handling of terror cases, particularly the 26/11 attacks, was influenced by political prejudice and vote-bank politics rather than national security interests.
He asserted that it was not based on a mere statement of an officer, but there were a few important points that indicated the inclination of Congress, besides its being inclined towards Muslims and Maoism.
Trivedi claimed that the Congress-led government was prepared to push the “Hindu terror” narrative even after the November 26, 2008 attacks that killed 166 people.
He stated that if Maharashtra Police martyr Tukaram Omble had not sacrificed his life to capture Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab alive, the UPA regime would have blamed the entire attack on “Hindu terrorism.”
“All 10 Pakistani terrorists carried fake Hindu identity cards and wore sacred ‘kalava’ threads on their wrists to facilitate this alleged deception, a fact later confirmed by then Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria and special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam,” he said.
The BJP leader questioned the Congress government’s failure to rigorously interrogate key plotter David Coleman Headley, a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative involved in the 26/11 planning.
He alleged that instead of a formal, comprehensive interrogation in India, the government merely sent officials to the US for limited interviews.
Trivedi slammed the UPA for its soft stance on Pakistan, citing the joint declaration signed at Sharm-El-Sheikh in July 2009, just eight months after the Mumbai carnage, which stated that peace talks would continue irrespective of terrorism.
He further claimed that the then government did not allow the Army to take decisive action against Pakistan and its terror outfits despite the Navy having crucial inputs about the terrorists’ boat.
He also referred to changes made in the Ishrat Jahan encounter affidavit. The BJP MP demanded that the Congress should explain if there was any match-fixing between Pakistan’s ISI and the Congress.
Trivedi further accused the UPA of diverting major terror cases like the Samjhauta Express blast to manufacture the “saffron terror” bogey. This, he claimed, allowed several Pakistani accused to walk free despite actionable intelligence, including terror funding admissions by operatives like Arif Kasmani.
Sudhanshu Trivedi further said that these decisions by the Congress were driven by “petty vote-bank politics” and political prejudice, undermining objective counter-terrorism efforts and compromising national security.
(IANS)
