The controversial meeting between journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik and laskhar-e-Tayyeba chief Hafiz Saeed continued to dog the Government for the third consecutive day on Wednesday with NDA ally Shiv Sena terming the meeting as an act of treason while a RSS leader branding him a patriot. Congress insisted Vaidik was a RSS volunteer and sought to know the ‘hidden agenda’ behind the meeting.
Though the RSS officially did not react to Vaidik’s meeting with Saeed, which led to uproar for two days in Parliament in the last two days, a Sangh leader Indresh Kumar hailed him as patriot and said what he did was for the betterment of the nation. “Ved Pratap Vaidik is a patriotic man. He has high values. What he did was for the betterment of the nation,” Kumar said.
However, reacting strongly to the meeting, Shiv Sena urged the Government to take action against Vaidik saying the Centre cannot shrug off its responsibility in the matter. “Just saying that the Government has nothing to do with the meeting won’t suffice. Had it been a Congress Government and any journalist would have met Hafiz or Dawood Ibrahim, BJP would have attacked the Government,” an editorial in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said.
“But today we are in power. So just saying that the Government has nothing to do with this won’t do. What is needed is to go to the bottom of the issue,” the Sena said adding if the journalist is let off, tomorrow anyone will go and enjoy biryani with Dawood, Tiger Memon and Saeed,” the newspaper said. Terming the meeting as “treason,” the newspaper said the Government should take stern action against the journalist, it said.
Meanwhile, Congress maintained pressure and said claimed Vaidik is a RSS volunteer beyond doubt and sought to know the “hidden agenda” behind the meet. Raising this issue, party spokesperson Shobha Oza said question remained as to who was instrumental in ensuring Vaidik’s meeting with Saeed because even Pakistani journalists cannot meet the terror mastermind who carries a reward of USD 10 million.