Sir — This refers to the article, “Giving respectability to terror attacks” (January 14) by Rajesh Singh. There was unequivocal worldwide condemnation of the killings at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris. But shockingly, two Indian politicians — former senior diplomat, once Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s close associate, later a Minister in the UPA regime and now a nominated Congress Member of the Rajya Sabha, Mani Shankar Aiyar, and former BSP leader Haji Yakub Qureshi — have defended and justified the horrendous act. The writer has correctly exposed these two politicians for being apologists of Islamist terror.
Messrs Aiyar and Qureshi may be far apart in their backgrounds, but they are on the same page insofar as their reprehensible justification of the brutal act is concerned. Mr Aiyar also serves as the devil’s advocate for the sub-continental terror hub, Pakistan. His obsession with Pakistan is often manifested in his explaining away the latter’s violent anti-Indian excesses and implicitly blaming India.