india

Updated: Mar 03, 2019 17:23 IST

Union minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday hit out at opposition parties for questioning the Balakot attack and playing into Pakistan’s hands to discredit India by dividing India’s political opinion.

Referring to a remark made by former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Jaitley accused him of neglecting India’s interests and equating India with Pakistan, the “victim” and “perpetrator” of terrorism.

In a blog posited on his Facebook account, the finance minister pointed out that Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s and the Jana Sangh’s support to the Congress government during the 1971 war was a case where politicians and leaders rose to the level of statesmanship and the nation spoke in one voice.

However, he noted that after initially supporting the Air Force for the Balakot attack, Congress tried to create a divide in India’s political opinion.

“From the Congress and its friends, we have witnessed three recent statements. In a meeting of the 21 Opposition Parties, a resolution was passed, accusing the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) of politicizing the Pulwama and Balakot incidents,” he said, although no evidence was given.

Calling the statement inappropriate, Jaitley said it gave a handle to the enemy.

“The media in Pakistan used this statement of 21 Opposition Parties as a trump card. It took the statement as an endorsement of the Pakistani position that India had taken the Balakot action because of the compulsion of its domestic politics and not as a part of its policy to defend the country against terrorism,” he said.

Accusing West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leaders of doubting the veracity of the Balakot attack, he said he was most disappointed by a highly objectionable statement of the former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Jaitley said Singh had elevated himself to the status of a neutral third party rather than be concerned about India’s interest.

“He (Singh) further developed a theory of parity and equivalence between both India (victim of terrorism) and Pakistan (perpetrator of terrorism),” he said.

Holding that violence and terrorism were of no consequence to Singh and he had not condemned terrorism, Jaitley accused the former Prime Minister of “doubting India’s right to defend its sovereignty from those who want to damage it through terrorism”.

While receiving the PV Narasimha Rao Award for the lifetime achievement, Manmohan Singh had stated that he was disturbed with the “mad rush of mutual self-destruction” by India and Pakistan and argued that poverty, ignorance and disease were the real problems in the two countries and that saner counsel on both sides needed to think on the issue.

Stating that the opposition leaders’ statements hurt India’s national interest, Jaitley said, “Not only do they give smiles to Pakistan, they become an important instrument in Pakistan’s hands to discredit India.”

The minister hoped that the opposition would ensure restraint and statesmanship in public discourse and not let the nation down.