New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday said that BJP prime ministerial candidate owes an explanation over the 2002 Gujarat riots.
"There is a person today who was in office then, and who wants a larger office. Should he not explain?" Khurshid said to a news channel. He added: "Someone seeking a high office, who was responsible, and over whose watch these things happened owes one word of explanation, if not an apology."
Khurshid`s comments came following US Ambassador Nancy Powell`s meeting with Modi in Gandhinagar earlier in the morning. Khurshid said neither was Modi`s visa rejection celebrated, nor is the prospect of him getting a visa in the future is depressing.
"It is for him (Modi) to consider what India thinks of him," he said.
"We will not preach to the US about its perception of the Holocaust. They will not preach to us about our perception on 2002 in Gujarat. But we make our assessments, and they make theirs," Khurshid said.
Speaking on former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani`s role in the riots, Khurshid asked whether Modi takes responsibility for it.
"She was the minister in charge and he was the chief minister. Does he take responsibility for that or not," he asked.
Janata Dal (United) leader Shivanand Tiwari also criticised the meeting between Powell and Modi, and said that Modi will never be able to wash his hands of the 2002 riots.
"The 2002 Gujarat chapter won`t end, and neither will the people`s perception change," he said.