Kolkata: A day after Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi`s remarks against radicalised Hindu groups hit the
headlines, BJP on Saturday demanded a statement from Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on the utterances by the scion of the
Nehru-Gandhi family.
BJP General Secretary Vinay Katiyar alleged Rahul
Gandhi`s remarks "betrayed his lack of knowledge of Indian
culture."
"Hindus cannot be terrorists. They have always practised
tolerance and harmony", he said.
Alleging Congress was responsible for rise of terrorism
in Kashmir as also of the activities of Maoists and ULFA,
Katiyar said "Rahul should know that during Rajiv Gandhi`s
prime ministership, there were LTTE training camps at eight
places in India."
"I ask Rahul Gandhi, his mother (Sonia Gandhi) and
Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) why were 7,000 Sikhs killed
in 1984? Congress is a terrorist party and has no right to
be in politics. It should be banned," Katiyar told a press
conference here.
A Wikileaks cable released yesterday claimed Gandhi
had told US Ambassador Timothy Roemer that radical Hindu
groups could pose a `bigger threat` to India than terror group
LeT.
Katiyar demanded a statement from the Prime Minister
on Rahul Gandhi`s remarks.
Strongly condemning the remarks by Rahul, Katiyar
charged "it will give a leverage to the LeT and the ISI. It is
intended to save Afzal Guru (from capital punishment) and to
have Ajmal Kasab released (from jail)."
Asked about Congress general secretary Digvijay
Singh`s reported statement that the BJP should dissociate
itself from RSS, Katiyar retorted "I suggest that (Singh)
dissociate himself from the Gandhi family."
Alleging that in February 2009, Singh had spent over
three hours with two terrorists involved in the 2008 Delhi
blasts at Sanjarpur village in UP`s Azamgarh district, Katiyar
demanded Singh be arrested and interrogated about it.
On Singh`s statement that senior BJP leaders LK
Advani and Rajnath Singh had met the Prime Minister after the
arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur after 2008 Malegaon blast,
Katiyar said "we are not asking the government not to take
steps against terrorists but we are against personal political
vendetta in the name of curbing terrorism."
Describing the 2G spectrum scam as bigger than the
Bofors scam, Katiyar said BJP would not backtrack from its
demand for a JPC probe into it.
Asked about reports that Congress was planning to go
for mid-term polls next year if the opposition continued to
stall the Lok Sabha during the budget session, Katiyar said
"we are ready to go to the people if the elections are held.
The issues will be corruption and price rise."
Pointing out that former Telecom Minister A Raja had
gone on record as having said that the Prime Minister was
aware of the decisions taken by him in allocating 2G spectrum,
Katiyar said "the Prime Minister cannot now dissociate
himself from the issue."
PTI
