New Delhi, August 05: The government on Tuesday came under Opposition attack in the Lok Sabha over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ‘soft approach’ towards Pakistan, the criticism sharpened by Pakistan Supreme Court’s decision to defer the hearing against the release from house arrest of Jamaat-ud Daawa chief Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack.
Before the Opposition parties walked out, some parties extending outside support to the government joined them in targeting the foreign policy.
Former defence minister and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said the Prime Minister’s “trust but verify” policy on Pakistan had fallen flat after Saeed walked free. Mulayam reiterated that the Sharm-el-Sheikh joint statement signed by Indian and Pakistani prime ministers, de-linking terror from talks, should be trashed. He said Pakistan had been isolated in the international community after the Mumbai attacks but Singh brought it back to the international mainstream by signing the joint statement.
The members claimed that Pakistan had made its intention clear that it was not serious in nailing down the Mumbai attack accused.
BJP leader Yashwant Sinha claimed that release of Hafiz Saeed was not surprising as he was backed by the ISI. “No one in Pakistan has the guts to put him behind bars,” he said.
BJP led the walkout from the House demanding an explanation from the government. Referring to external affairs minister S M Krishna’s remarks that talks with Pakistan would now be futile, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj asked if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed with the views of his cabinet colleague.
The BJP said sanctity of Parliament was not being maintained as Krishna made the remark on Pakistan outside the House. The BJP demanded a statement from the government on the issue.
–Agencies–