Ex-RAW chief's remarks: Gujarat riots issue irrelevant, Cong should apologise, says BJP

New Delhi: Terming the Gujarat riots issue “totally irrelevant”, BJP on Friday accused Congress of raking it up for its “political survival” and demanded that the opposition party apologise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for questioning his “integrity”. [caption id=“attachment_2325878” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PM Narendra Modi. Reuters[/caption] The reaction came in the wake of Congress latching on to claims by former RAW chief AS Dulat to demand that Modi “respect the words” of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and offer an apology to the country. BJP, however, insisted that every court had investigated Modi’s role and found nothing against him and added that the opposition party raises the 2002 riots issue when it can find nothing else to say. “I think time as well as all that has happened has made that question completely irrelevant. Congress has used every method and every strata of the administration, as well as the courts and every court, including Supreme Court, has done 10 years or more of the most thorough investigation… and found nothing against the present honourable Prime Minister. “In fact, Congress should apologise for raising questions about his integrity,” said BJP national spokesperson, MJ Akbar. He said that if thorough investigation was undertaken into the riots under Congress rule, many of its leaders would not be in their homes. “Indeed, it occurs to me that if, on the riots under Congress, one-hundredth of the investigations had taken place against those who are responsible, a lot of VIPs would not be in their homes,” charged Akbar. The ruling party also outrightly rejected Dulat’s claims about the alleged “goof up” of the IC-814 hijacking case in 1999. It also rebutted claims of the ruling party compromising with terrorists and terrorism. Claiming that Congress has a “very convenient memory” on Kandahar, Akbar said the decision to save the hijacked Indians was taken after consultations with everyone. “It is regrettable, but perhaps their (Congress’s) occasional amnesia, where it suits them. On Kandahar, consultations were held at the highest level by senior leaders of NDA. It was a national crisis. In the spirit of the Vajpayee government, consultations were held with all the parties,” he said. BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma also accused Congress of raking up “dead issues” for its political survival and charged the opposition party with allowing Warren Andersen, who was responsible for thousands of deaths in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, to escape scot-free. “Congress is devoid of issues and is trying to borrow them and rake up dead issues,” he said. Noting that everybody was kept in the loop on the IC-814 issue, Akbar said, “Since the Congress has raised it, I challenge it to answer one question: Should those around 200 Indians have been allowed to die? Please ask them this question and please ask them to respond.” On the issue of Syed Salauddin, he sought to put the blame on the then Jammu and Kashmir government led by Farooq Abdullah, saying the decision may have been taken by it and the question should be posed to the latter. “We want to say very categorically, very unequivocally, without the least hesitation, that the government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had nothing to do with that decision,” he said. The BJP Spokesperson said, “If such a decision was made, that was made by Dr Farooq Abdullah and you are most welcome to ask Dr Farooq Abdullah, who in fact is a great and distinct ally of the Congress.” Raking up the post-Godhra riots issue, Congress today latched on to the claims by Dulat to demand that Modi apologise for the communal violence in Gujarat in 2002, when he was the Chief Minister of the state. The party also questioned BJP’s commitment to fighting terrorism and alleged it was wearing a “mask of nationalism”. Citing certain claims by Dulat, including on the “goof up” on the IC-814 hijacking, Congress accused the ruling party of always compromising with terrorists and terrorism. PTI