Parliament Monsoon session: Amit Shah uses P Chidambaram’s remarks to slam Congress – ‘why shield Pakistan?’ | India News

NEW DELHI: Home minister Tuesday Amit Shah accused Congress of shielding Pakistan as he referred to remarks made by senior functionary P Chidambaram questioning Operation Sindoor.“Why are you giving a clean chit to Pakistan?” Shah asked, addressing the Congress, during a debate on the terror strike and Operation Sindoor in Lok Sabha.In an interview, Chidambaram had said, “Have they (NIA) identified the terrorists or where they came from? For all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists. Why do you assume they came from Pakistan? There is no evidence of that.”Shah countered, “If Chidambaram says these were not Pakistanis, then it means that the former home minister of the country is giving a clean chit to Pakistan in front of the world. With such a statement, the Congress functionary is questioning the rationale behind the attack on Pakistan.”Shah said the world acknowledged Pakistan’s role in the attack but Chidambaram was creating doubts. “Had he asked me, I would have given him proof,” he said, alleging Congress’s conspiracy to shield Pakistan. Detailing the success of security forces in eliminating the Pahalgam attackers, Shah sparred with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, saying, “Don’t be perturbed by the religion of the terrorists.”Shah blamed Congress for Pakistan’s creation and said, “All roots of terrorism lead back to Pakistan. And Pakistan itself is the result of the Congress party’s blunder. Had they not accepted the idea of partition, Pakistan would never have come into existence.” He criticised successive Congress govts for failing to reclaim PoK.Responding to Congress neta Gaurav Gogoi’s query on halting military action against Pakistan, Shah said, “In 1948, our forces were at a decisive stage in Kashmir. Sardar Patel kept saying no, but (Jawaharlal) Nehru announced a unilateral ceasefire. If PoK exists today, it is due to this unilateral ceasefire announced by Nehru. Nehru is responsible for this.”Shah added, “Gaurav ji, you have gone to Pakistan multiple times… but how many times have you gone to the borders?” He claimed Nehru ceded India’s strategic advantage by offering 80% of Indus waters to Pakistan in 1960 and missed reclaiming PoK in 1971 after the Bangladesh liberation war.“We had 93,000 prisoners of war – that was 42% of Pakistani army – and 15,000 sq km of territory in our possession. Yet in Shimla, an agreement was signed, and they forgot to even ask for PoK. Not just that, even the captured land was returned,” he said.Shah also held Nehru responsible for India not securing a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. “It was Nehru’s decision that cost us the UN Security Council seat,” he said, quoting from books written by the first PM.The home minister said today China was in the Security Council, and India was not. “PM Modi is working hard to get India into the Security Council, but the root of the problem lies in Nehru ji’s letter. This legacy has passed down generation after generation,” he said. He said the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation signed an MoU with China, and now no one was ready to reveal its contents.Shah reiterated that Hurriyat Conference was an “outfit of terrorist organisations” and made it clear that the Modi govt will never engage with it for any dialogue.