Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu today termed the remarks of former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Kashmir incidents as shocking, irresponsible and anti-national.
Speaking at victory celebrations at the Telangana BJP party office at Nampally here on Saturday, the Union minister said the comment of Chindambram was reprehensible because he was a former Home Minister and is well-acquainted with the complexities involved in tackling insurgency in the sensitive border State. He said, “Chidambaram’s irresponsible statement encourages separatists and enthralls Pakistan, which was sponsoring, funding and abetting terrorism from across the border. He should remember that Pakistan was systematically trying to internationalize the Kashmir issue”, he added.
Venkaiah Naidu said Chidambaram should remember that on the auspicious occasion of Shivratri, Muslims in Kashmir organized puja at a temple near Srinagar and sent specially designed Herath greeting cards to Kashmiri pandits as a gesture of camaraderie and bonding. There were also reports that thousands of people attended the funeral of Lance Naik Mohiuddin Rather, who was killed in a militant ambush in Shopian, he pointed out.
Apparently, Chidambaram’s remarks are borne out of frustration and he was feeling like a fish out of water after the Congress lost power to BJP at the Centre. He and his party colleagues are further depressed because of the growing popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the entire country. Stating that the BJP was continuing its winning spree in election after election, he said the Congress was shrinking and becoming a “notional” party, he said. The congress leader should remember that numbers count in a democracy and speak of the mood of the people and not on biased political statements, he fumed. (NSS)