Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 19: The Congress overseas department chief Sam Pitroda has once again put the party in an embarrassing situation making claims that he “felt at home in Pakistan” during his visits to that country sometime in the past with the BJP quickly latching on to it to attack the Congress for its “undying love” for the neighbouring country that “prevented” the party government from acting tough against Pakistan even after the heinous 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai.
Mr Pitroda’s remarks coupled with the sensational claims made by the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) terrorist Yasin Malik, who is serving a life sentence in a terror funding case, putting the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the docks about his alleged “peace efforts” with the Pakistan-based terrorists, provided the BJP ammunition to hit out at the Congress.
The separatist leader Mr Malik in an affidavit submitted in the Delhi High Court on August 25 and published on Friday had claimed that he had met some terrorist leaders in Pakistan in 2006 at the behest of the then prime minister Mr Singh as part of his “peace efforts” with Pakistan and he had personally thanked him and expressed gratitude to him after he met Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan in 2006.
The BJP slammed the Congress alleging that the party did not take “tough actions” against Pakistan, even after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack because of its “undying love” for the neighbouring country. Reacting sharply to Mr Pitroda’s remarks, the BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said, “Rahul Gandhi’s blue-eyed boy and Congress Overseas chief Sam Pitroda says he ‘felt at home’ in Pakistan. No wonder UPA took no tough action against Pak even after 26/11.” “Pakistan’s favourite, Congress’s chosen!” Mr Bhandari said in a post on X.
Another BJP spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, referring to Malik’s affidavit alleged that the “Congress had undying love for Pakistan.” “They even spoke to Hafiz Saeed via Yasin Malik. They give (gave) clean chit to Pakistan on 26/11, Samjhauta, Pulwama and Pahalgam (terror strikes). They articulate Pak position on (Article) 370…. They give 80% of water to Pak under IWT! They love Pakistan!” “INC (Indian National Congress) is Islamabad National Congress,” Mr Poonawalla charged.
Yasin Malik in his affidavit claimed that the meeting in 2006 was not his independent initiative but was held at the request of senior Indian intelligence officials as part of the backchannel peace process with Pakistan. According to Malik’s statement, then Special Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), V. K. Joshi, met him in Delhi before his visit to Pakistan in the aftermath of the devastating 2005 earthquake in Kashmir.
Mr Joshi allegedly requested Malik to use the opportunity to engage not just with the Pakistani political leadership but also with terrorist figures, including Saeed, to support then Prime Minister Singh’s peace efforts. Malik claimed he was told explicitly that dialogue with Pakistan could not be meaningful unless terrorist leaders were also brought into the conversation. Acting on this request, he said, he agreed to meet Saeed and other leaders of the United Jihad Council at a function in Pakistan.
In his affidavit, Malik described how Saeed organised a gathering of jihadist groups, where the former delivered a speech, urging terrorists to embrace peace. Quoting Islamic teachings, he said he pressed for reconciliation over violence, stressing that “if somebody offers you peace, purchase peace with him.”
This meeting, however, became a flashpoint years later as it was portrayed as evidence of Malik’s proximity to Pakistani terror groups. Malik, in his affidavit, called the development a “classic betrayal,” insisting it was an officially sanctioned initiative that was later distorted for political purposes. The most explosive portion of Malik’s statement is his description of what followed upon his return to India. He claimed that after a debriefing with the IB, he was asked to brief the Prime Minister directly.
Malik said he met Mr Singh in the Capital that same evening, in the presence of then National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan. During this meeting, he claimed, Singh personally thanked him for the effort, patience, and dedication he had shown in engaging with even the most hardline elements in Pakistan. “When I returned to New Delhi from Pakistan, Special Director IB V K Joshi as part of the debriefing exercise, met me in the hotel and requested me to immediately brief the Prime Minister,” Malik said.
“I met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the same evening where N K Narayan, National Security Advisor, was also present. I briefed him on my meetings and appraised him on the possibilities, where he conveyed his gratitude to me for my efforts, time, patience and dedication,” he added. On a photograph of Malik shaking hands with Mr Singh, the jailed terrorist said: “When I met Manmohan Singh as PM, without any hesitation he said, I consider you father of non-violent movement in Kashmir.”
In his affidavit, Malik also mentioned at length about his encounters and meetings with several top political leaders, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sonia Gandhi, P Chidambaram, IK Gujral and Rajesh Pilot. “After my arrest in 1990, I was actively engaged by six consecutive dispensations under the leadership of Shri VP Singh, Shri Chandra Shekhar, Shri PV Narsimha Rao, Shri HD Deve Gauda, Shri Inder Kumar Gujral, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee till Shri Manmohan Singh. Not only I was provided domestic platform to speak about the Kashmiri cause, but I was actively roped in time and again by the said governments in power and was actively persuaded to speak on international platforms,” he said.
Malik’s claims, if accurate, raise serious questions about the covert methods of India’s peace outreach with Pakistan and the extent to which state institutions relied on deceptive and shady separatist leaders and terrorists like him in 2006. Most significantly, his assertion that a sitting Prime Minister of India expressed gratitude after a meeting with one of the world’s most wanted terrorists could spark a political storm.
Malik is accused of killing four Indian Air Force officers in January 1990 in Srinagar. He is also accused of kidnapping former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s daughter Rubiya Saeed. The exiled community of Kashmiri Pandits have for years blamed Malik for the brutal ethnic cleansing and exodus of their community from their homeland since 1990.
In a sharp attack on the erstwhile Congress-led government, the Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday claimed that Malik shook hands with Manmohan Singh, earlier visited the Prime Minister’s residence and “was fed biryani” there. “They (Former PM Manmohan Singh) had handshakes with Yasin Malik… They had come into contact even earlier… What was their approach?” Pralhad Joshi asked, further adding, “Earlier, he (Malik) used to go to the Prime Minister’s residence and he was fed biryani… That’s why people despise them.”
Pralhad Joshi also drew parallels between the approach of the Congress-led government and the current NDA-led government towards tackling terrorism. “Why has terrorist activity decreased in the country today? Because our approach is very clear. We don’t tolerate this nonsense, even if they are based in Pakistan or anywhere… So, as the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, and the Defence Minister have repeatedly said, ‘Ghus ke Marenge’,” Joshi told reporters.