BJP slams Digvijay Singh for Karkare remarks

BJP on Saturday slammed Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh for his "irresponsible statement" on slain Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare, saying it was a "serious blow" to India's fight against terror and was an attempt to divert attention from scams facing the UPA.

BJP on Saturday slammed Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh for his "irresponsible statement" on slain Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare, saying it was a "serious blow" to India's fight against terror and was an attempt to divert attention from scams facing the UPA.

HT Image

The party also demanded a clarification from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on their stand over Singh's comments.

BJP Chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad strongly condemned Singh's "unfortunate" remarks that Karkare had informed him about the pressure from certain Hindu organisations as he was investigating cases allegedly involving Hindu terror groups.

"The country's security, fight against terror and investigations into the 26/11 attacks case has suffered a serious blow due to Digvijay Singh's comments. Terrorists from across the border will question the entire 26/11 attacks," Prasad told reporters here.

"Terrorists from across the border and their patrons are going to lap it up," he said.

He saw a "deliberate design" behind Singh's comment, saying, "it is an attempt to distract the embattled UPA and Congress party, which is facing a barrage of corruption charges. Congress is finding itself seriously handicapped".

The BJP leader alleged that Singh was making such statements to gain political mileage as he has been marginalised in the Congress. "He should find better ways to gain publicity and not make statements which harm national security," he said.

Prasad maintained that Singh's statement has given much leverage to terrorist elements like Taliban, Lashkar and ISI "who are saying, why are we being framed in 26/11 when a senior Congress leader is questioning the killing of Karkare".

"Today, Digvijay has emboldened the terrorists across the border. He has not done this for the first time... After the Batla House encounter, he had visited Azamgarh (to meet families of the accused) and now he is indirectly helping terrorists from across the border, who will question the 26/11 attacks," Prasad said.