Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday charged the previous UPA Government with hatching a “deep conspiracy” to “defame and frame” Narendra Modi when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister, and indulging in a “flip-flop” on Ishrat’s links with terror outfit leT. Disclosing that some crucial documents of the Ministry on the Ishrat case are missing, he also accused the erstwhile dispensation of giving terrorism “a communal colour”.
Responding to a calling attention motion on “alleged alteration of affidavit relating to the Ishrat Jahan case” in the lok Sabha, the Home Minister said, “unfortunately, I have to say this that there was a flip-flop by the UPA Government in the Ishrat Jahan case.”
The Minister went on to say that some of the key affidavits which may throw light on the chain of communication on the Ishrat issue is missing. Rajnath said an internal enquiry was underway to look into all issues linked to the case as they need to be properly investigated.
He said a few key documents, including two letters written by the then Home Secretary (GK Pillai) to then Attorney General (AG) late G E Vahanvati and the copy of the draft affidavit have so far been untraceable. The Minister said the missing documents include the copy of the affidavit vetted by the AG and the draft of the second affidavit vetted by the AG on which changes were made.
Without naming P Chidambaram, he charged the then Home Minister with rendering a “colour” to terrorism by coining the term ‘saffron terror’.
Amid slogan shouting by Congress members who had collected into the Well of the House, Rajnath charged Chidambaram with using the term “saffron terror” and “Hindu terror”.
“Colour, creed and religion should not be associated with terrorism. Terror has no colour... The seculars gave colour to terrorism. Selective secularism cannot be accepted by the country,” he said.
He said the recent statement made by Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley before a Mumbai court only reaffirmed the first affidavit filed by the UPA Government on August 6, 2009 before the Gujarat High Court that Ishrat had links with leT.
“It (Headley’s statement) was the second clear indication that she was a terrorist,” Rajnath said.
The Minister said the second affidavit filed by the Government before the High Court on September 29, 2009 “weakened” the fact that she was a leT operative. The Government then sought to say “there is no conclusive proof”.
Rajnath said the effort seemed to be to “defame the then Gujarat Chief Minister (Narendra Modi), State Government, some leaders and those associated with the case. There was a deep conspiracy to frame them,” he said.
Prior to his response, in his written response to the Motion, Rajnath said the notings on the concerned file do not provide any reason for filing of the second affidavit.
“It has been mentioned in the affidavit that the further affidavit was being made in view of subsequent developments in relation to the issues connected with the petition and to clarify apprehensions expressed in regard to the (first) affidavit filed by Union of India as well as to refute attempts to misinterpret portions of the affidavit.”
He said the second affidavit stated that all Intelligence inputs “do not constitute conclusive proof” and it is for the State Government and the State police to act on such inputs.
“It was further submitted that the Central Government is in no way concerned with such action nor does it condone or endorse any unjustified or excessive action.
“It was also mentioned that the main purpose of the first affidavit was to highlight the contradiction in the pleadings averred in the petition filed by Shamima Kausar (Ishrat’s mother) and the petition which had been filed by R Gopinath Pillai (Javed Sheikh, alias Pranesh Pillai’s father),” read the statement.
The first affidavit was filed on the basis of inputs from Maharashtra and Gujarat Police besides the Intelligence Bureau where it was said that the 19-year-old girl from Mumbai outskirts was a lashkar-e-Taiba activist but it was ignored in the second affidavit, Home Ministry officials said.
The second affidavit, claimed to have been drafted by Chidambaram, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that Ishrat was a terrorist, officials said.
Earlier, Satya Pal Singh (BJP) who headed one of the Special Investigation Teams claimed that one of senior Congress leader called him to say that he was appointed “to reach at the Gujarat CM”. He said Ishrat had visited many places, including Faizabad and her handwriting was authenticated by forensic lab but was changed later. He said he was under pressure that’s why he resigned as SIT chief.
Nishikant Dube (BJP) accused the Congress of practicing vote-bank politics, a charge thrown back at the BJP-led NDA and the UPA Government by Kalikesh N Singh Deo (BJD) who was critical of both the Congress and the BJP over the issue.
Targeting the BJP, Deo said all inquiries have said that this was an extra-judicial killing. This was first said by the Additional Judicial Magistrate of Ahmadabad and secondly by the SIT and thirdly by the CBI, he said.