Political Storm Erupts Over Terrorism Remarks
The Bhartiya Janata Party launched a fierce attack on Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday, accusing the former home minister of speaking in favor of extremists following his comments about homegrown terrorists. The political controversy erupted after Chidambaram's social media post questioning why Indian citizens turn to terrorism.
Minister Giriraj Singh Leads BJP Offensive
Union Minister Giriraj Singh spearheaded the BJP's criticism, stating that Chidambaram's comments amounted to supporting terrorists. Expressing his disgust, Singh said, He is supporting terrorists. Chhi, chhi while reacting to the Congress leader's statement. The minister accused Chidambaram of crossing all limits and recalled an incident where the former minister had allegedly brought terrorist Yasin Malik to meet then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Singh further alleged that India continues to suffer from terrorism due to what he described as the Congress party's appeasement politics. He directly blamed the Congress leadership from Nehru to Manmohan Singh for the current situation, calling it the result of their policies.
BJP Leaders Unite in Condemnation
BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal joined the criticism, emphasizing that a terrorist has no religion or nationality. He questioned why Chidambaram didn't raise these issues during his tenure as Union Home Minister, pointing out that many terror attacks occurred during his term. Khandelwal accused the Congress leader of trying to mislead people with his statements.
BJP national spokesperson Nalin Kohli also condemned Chidambaram's remarks, accusing him of attempting to build a political narrative around the recent Delhi bomb blast that killed 13 people and injured over 25. Kohli stated that such statements do injustice to terror victims and emphasized that in the fight against terrorism, there are only two sides - those with terrorism and those against it.
Chidambaram's Controversial Statement
The controversy began when Chidambaram wrote on social media platform X that the government had maintained a discreet silence despite knowing that homegrown terrorists exist. The Congress leader had categorically stated that there are two kinds of terrorists: foreign-trained infiltrated terrorists and home-grown terrorists.
Chidambaram referenced his earlier statements during the Parliament debate on Operation Sindoor, launched after the Pahalgam terror attack, where he had first raised concerns about homegrown terrorism. His latest comments came in the context of the Delhi blast near Red Fort and subsequent arrests of educated professionals, including doctors, allegedly linked to a Faridabad-based module connected to Jaish-e-Mohammed.
The Congress leader's central question focused on understanding what circumstances turn Indian citizens, even educated individuals, into terrorists. This isn't the first time Chidambaram has faced BJP backlash for suggesting the government examine homegrown terrorism instead of solely blaming Pakistan.
