MUMBAI:
No stranger to controversy, veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has triggered a fresh row by claiming that India should “respect” Pakistan because it has an “atom bomb”. The statement has led to massive outrage, with BJP’s Shehzad Poonawalla saying that Congress’ love for the neighbour is never-ending.
“Congress’ love for Pakistan is old. He’s the same Mani Shankar Aiyar who went begging Pakistan to remove Narendra Modi as India’s prime minister. Many Congress leaders have been giving clean chit to Pakistan on 26/11, Pulwama and Poonch attacks. For them, the one who sends terrorists is respectable, while the Indian Army is ‘sadak ka goonda’,” Poonawallah said while lashing out at Aiyar.
“This is all because Pakistan has been continuously tweeting in support of Congress. So this thought is not just of Mani Shankar Aiyar, but the entire Congress. This is simply an experiment for vote bank amid ongoing polls,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ravi Kishan said that Mani Shankar Aiyar should get himself treated somewhere. “At a time when Pakistan is collecting food grains for itself and is facing food crisis, Aiyar wants to give them respect. He should get himself treated somewhere. This is not the India of Congress. Now, India is very powerful. This is the India of PM Modi,” he said.
Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is contesting against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram seat, said that the “ideology” of Rahul Gandhi’s Congress is “fully visible in these elections”. “Support to and from Pakistan, including offering to give up Siachen,” he added.
The reactions came after a video of Mani Shankar Aiyar went viral on social media. In the clip, the Congress leader can be heard saying, “India should respect Pakistan because it has a nuclear bomb. If we do not respect them, they will think of using atom bomb against India. India, which is showing muscular policy, should not forget that Pakistan also has muscle (nuclear bomb) in Kahuta (Rawalpindi).”
“They have atom bombs. We have them too, but if a ‘madman’ decides to drop a bomb on Lahore, it won’t take eight seconds for the radiation to reach Amritsar,” he warned. The statement was reportedly made last month. However, it went viral in May.
