Imran Khan ‘cat's paw’ of Pakistani deep state: Congress' Manish Tewari reacts to Sidhu's 'bhai' remark
Veteran Congress leader Manish Tewari on Saturday said that while the Pakistani prime minister may be “anybody's elder brother”, for India Imran Khan is that “cat's paw” (a person used by another to carry out an unpleasant or dangerous task) of the Pakistani “deep state”.
Congress seems to have landed itself in yet another pickle after its Punjab unit president, Navjot Singh Sidhu, reportedly called Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan his “elder brother” during a trip to Kartarpur Sahib, the comment triggering snide remarks from the opposition – most notably the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – which alleged that the grand old party sees terror groups like the Islamic State and the Boko Haram in Hindutva (referring to the recent controversy surrounding Congress leader Salman Khurshid's new book) while it finds a “bhai jaan” (a dear brother) in Khan.
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Arriving at the centre of the controversy on Saturday and apparently criticising Sidhu's statement, veteran Congress leader Manish Tewari said that while the Pakistani prime minister may be “anybody's elder brother”, for India Imran Khan is that “cat's paw” (a person used by another to carry out an unpleasant or dangerous task) of the Pakistani “deep state”.
Tewari indicated that it is this shadowy cabal, also comprised of the notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan) and the military, which makes use of Imran Khan to smuggle drones, arms, and narcotics into Punjab and terrorists across the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir on a daily basis.
“Have we forgotten the martyrdom of our soldiers in Poonch so soon?” Tewari asked, referring to an encounter in the J&K district last month that saw as many as three personnel of the Indian Army and a junior commissioned officer (JCO) being killed by terrorist gunfire during an armed exchange.
A purported video of Navjot Singh Sidhu being welcomed by a Pakistani official on behalf of Khan has gone viral in which the Congress leader is heard saying Khan was like a “bada bhai” to him and that he loved him a lot. India had recently opened the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, and a number of pilgrims from Punjab, including politicians, have visited the place on the occasion of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak's birth anniversary.