Last Updated:
Mani Shankar Aiyar said the Pahalgam tragedy reflected the “unresolved questions of Partition”, prompting the BJP to accuse Congress of giving a clean chit to Pakistan.
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar speaking at the India International Centre.
After Robert Vadra, it is senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar who has sparked yet another row over the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which left 26 tourists. Aiyar said the Pahalgam tragedy reflected “unresolved questions of Partition”.
At least 26 people were killed in the barbaric terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, sending shockwaves across the country and drawing global condemnation. Security forces have since intensified search operations across Jammu and Kashmir to hunt down the terrorists.
Speaking at an event at the India International Centre, Aiyar said, “Many people almost prevented partition, but it happened because there were differences in value systems and assessments of the nature of India’s nationhood and its civilisational inheritance between people like Gandhi and Pandit Nehru… and Jinnah and many other Muslims who did not agree with Jinnah.”
“But the fact is, that Partition happened and till today, we are living with the consequences of that partition. Is this how we should be living? Are not the unresolved questions of partition reflected in the terrible tragedy that was enacted near Pahalgam on 22nd April?”
BJP Reacts To Mani Shankar Aiyar’s Remarks
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla responded angrily to Aiyar’s remarks, saying Congress is working to give a clean chit to Pakistan and justifying acts of terrorism on Indian soil.
“Once again, Congress has given a new excuse to give a clean chit to Pakistan and justify Pakistan’s attack on Pahalgam,” Poonawalla said in a video unit, highlighting previous controversial remarks by party leaders on the tragic terror attack. “At the time of Partition, Nehru and Jinnah were at the helm. Are you blaming Nehru?”
Poonawalla questioned how long Congress will give a clean chit to Pakistan for every terrorist attack. “This is not INC (Indian National Congress) but PPP (Pakistan Parast Party). Mani Shankar Aiyar was the one who begged Pakistan for help in removing PM Modi from power. It has become a full-time job for Congress to give a clean chit to Pakistan and whitewash Islamic jihad,” he added.
Before his remarks, Aiyar said it was too early for an “outsider” like him to comment on how the Centre will take action on the attack with the backing of all political parties. “I think the matter is still being played out and it will be too premature for me to make any kind of remark on this,” he said.
Previous Controversial Statements By Congress Leaders
Mani Shankar Aiyar is not the first Congress leader to spark a row over the Pahalgam tragedy. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s husband and businessman Robert Vadra had earlier said the terrorists targeted Hindus to give a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that “Muslims are feeling weakened”.
In a bid to attack the Centre over the terror attack, Vadra ended up stoking a controversy as he said that the terrorists checked the IDs of the victims as there is a “divide that has come” in India between Hindus and Muslims. “In our country, we see that this government will talk about Hindutva, and the minorities feel uncomfortable and troubled,” he said, prompting an angry reply from the BJP.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has stoked a controversy by saying there is no need for war with Pakistan but India, instead, should beef up security in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack. He said the attack reflected an intelligence failure in Kashmir.
“There is no need for war now. But strict measures must be taken. Security measures must be tightened. We are not for war. Peace must prevail, people should have security, the Centre must maintain security measures,” he said.
Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka assembly R Ashoka, taking to ‘X’, launched a scathing attack on Siddaramaiah. “It is the misfortune of Karnataka that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who has 40 years of vast political experience and has served as Chief Minister twice, lacks the basic sense of when and what to speak.”