Patil to Raje: Stop playing politics

Home Minister firmly denies Vasundhra Raje's allegation that he had written a letter to the Rajasthan government asking it to keep Bangladeshis in virtual detention camp.

Firmly denying again that he had written a letter to the Rajasthan government asking it to keep Bangladeshis in virtual detention camps in the state, Home Minister Shivraj Patil sent out this message to chief minister Vasundhara Raje on Wednesday: “Stop playing politics and follow the law of the land”.

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“The Rajasthan Chief Minister and the government are perfectly entitled to deport illegal Bangladeshis without seeking any permission from the Centre. But they must make sure that not every Bangladeshi is treated as an illegal resident or a terrorist,” he said in an interview with CNN-IBN.

Patil said Raje’s claim that the Centre had asked the state to keep Bangladeshis in virtual detention camps was “totally false”. “No such communication was given. “The opposition chief ministers must stop spreading disinformation and playing politics with issues of national security,” he said.

On criticism that he was a “soft” Home Minister, Patil said, “Just because I don’t shout or enter into a tu tu main main contest with others doesn’t mean I am soft. I am doing my duty with commitment that is all that matters,” he said.

Patil also denied reports that the National Security Adviser had criticised the central intelligence agencies in the aftermath of the Jaipur blasts.