Congress charges BJP of 'Talibanizing' India in veil of nationalism

Mumbai: In a blistering attack, the Congress on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of 'bloodying' the country's atmosphere in the guise of 'hypocritical nationalism', and labelled it as a 'Bharat Jalao Party' against the backdrop of a spate of violent incidents across India.

AICC spokesperson Ajay Kumar said in the recent past weeks, there been several instances like the Pulwama killing, murder of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur, a jailed terror financer Niranjan Hojai in Assam, in which the BJP's links have emerged, "tearing the veil" of its hollow nationalism.

Detailing the incidents at a media conference, he alleged that the BJP's activists was involved in some of these killings and terror activities in the country.

"A prime accused in the Udaipur killing - one Mohammed Atari - turned out to be a BJP worker and employed with a company of a BJP leader Gulabchand Kataria's son-in-law, and enjoys close ties with several senior BJP leaders," said Dr. Kumar.

Similarly, one of the two Lashkar-e-Taiba militants captured in Jammu & Kashmir, Talib Hussain Shah, is a BJP office-bearer and his photos with Union Home Minister Amit Shah have gone viral, while another BJP leader and a Sarpanch, Tariq Ahmed Mir was nabbed in J&K in 2020 on charges of supplying arms to terrorists, he added.

Maharashtra Congress Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe said in the June 2022 murder of a pharmacist Umesh Kolhe in Amravati, the prime accused Irfan Khan had taken part in the election campaign of local independent MP Navneet Kaur-Rana and her husband MLA Ravi Rana.

"The links between the BJP and the Rana couple are no secret... The Amravati killing occurred on June 21, the Udaipur murder took place on June 28, yet Navneet Kaur-Rana wrote a letter to Amit Shah on June 27, demanding the NIA should probe the matter. How did she know about the incident one day in advance? Was it all pre-planned?" Londhe demanded.

In the local body elections in Srinagar, the BJP had fielded Mohammed Farooq Khan, a supporter of the terrorist Masood Azhar, while a Dy.SP of J&K Devendra Singh was arrested for transporting two militants to Delhi.

"The then Lt. Governor had written a letter saying that it would not be in the national interest to probe the matter. Where is Devendra Singh now? He was in Pulwama during the February 24, 2019 terror attacks and it is still not clear from where the 200 kg RDX used in it came from," said Kumar.

Following the Indian Airlines plane hijack (1999), the former BJP government had released the Jaish-e-Mohammed dreaded terrorist Masood Azhar at Kandahar in December 1999, and he later masterminded the attacks on Indian Parliament (December 13, 2001), the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and Pulwama strike in February 2019.

In Madhya Pradesh, a Bajrang Dal activist Balram Singh was arrested in 2019 in a terror funding matter, and earlier in 2017, Dhruv Saxena of the BJP's IT Cell was linked with Pakistan's ISI in an illegal telephone exchange case, said Dr. Kumar. Labelling the BJP as 'Bharat Jalao Party,' he said it is not in the national interest to ally with terrorists and sell-out the country's interests — and cited the examples of former Congress Prime Ministers who sacrificed their lives without compromising on the nation's security.

Referring to the Amravati incident, Londhe said though it has been over a fortnight since Kolhe was killed, Navneet Rana goes around performing poojas everywhere instead of visiting the Kolhe home to console the family.

The Kumar-Londhe duo said that the 'Bharatiya Jhootha Party' is attempting to Talibanize India, but the Congress will not allow it at any cost.

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