The political discourse on “terror” got shriller on Tuesday with Congress leaders backing party General Secretary Shakeel Ahmed’s tweet linking birth of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) to the 2002 Gujarat riots and the BJP accusing the Congress of indulging in “petty” vote bank politics and asking if Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh endorsed views of their partymen.
A day after the Congress distanced itself from Ahmed’s tweet and Rahul Gandhi advised his party spokesman to maintain decency of language, Ahmed stoked the flames of controversy all over again. This time, he got the backing of Minority Affairs Minister Rahman Khan and Congress leader Digvijay Singh.
In the wake of the controversy, Ahmed met party chief Sonia Gandhi. However, party leaders remained tight-lipped over the meeting and on whether he was summoned by Sonia Gandhi following the controversy.
In the past, Ahmed kept a low profile, but the way he has emerged as the new face of an aggressive Congress, it is expected that in the run up to the 2014 general elections, the
Congress will try to bring the focus back on secularism to divert attention from other uncomfortable issues staring the UPA Government in the face.
In a clear indication that the Congress was following a well-thought out strategy, which has the endorsement of top leaders despite claims to the contrary, another party spokesperson Meem Afzal termed BJP as a “symbol of terrorism.”
“BJP is a symbol of terrorism. Whatever they have done in Gujarat in 2002 is not less than terrorism,” Afzal told reporters on the sidelines of the party’s media workshop here.
He was replying to questions about the BJP’s strong criticism of Ahmed’s remarks blaming the 2002 Gujarat riots for creation of the Indian Mujahideen.
Afzal said: “What does terrorism mean other than killing innocents and harming them. I am not saying any new thing about what the BJP did. The media has also been saying it.”
He also termed the riots in Gujarat as “State-sponsored terrorism.” On his part, Ahmed accused the BJP of diverting the nation’s attention from NIA’s “observations” on the creation of Indian Mujahideen. “By a dramatised hue & cry, BJP spokespersons are trying to make it my statement simply to divert the nation’s attention from NIA’s observations,” he wrote on Twitter.
Slamming the comments, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters here that “the Congress wants to muster votes even in the name of terrorism... Congress leaders are eulogizing terrorism.”
Hussian said that the Congress had engineered hundreds of riots in the country and had no moral right to talk about secularism.
“Secularism is only a vote grabbing ploy for the Congress, and the party is raising the issue of Gujarat riots only to divert attention from price raise and corruption,” he said.
Hussain’s colleague Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the Congress was trying to “legitimise” IM and terrorism. “At a time when the country is fighting terrorism, Congress is trying to support terrorism.
“We will like to have a comment from Rahul Gandhi or the Prime Minister as to whether they support the views of Shakeel Ahmed,” he said. While the attack continued, Ahmed got support from the Minority Affairs Minister who said he had quoted from the NIA charge sheet.
“Suffering has taken place. There is anger among Muslims. Anger is prevalent. It is obvious,” Khan said. At the same time, he added that two wrongs did not make a right and terrorism should not be justified. Digvijay Singh said Ahmed is an “experienced” leader and “he must have made the comments after giving it proper thought.”