Senior leader of the Congress party and former Union Finance Minister of India, P. Chidambaram, took a dig at the NDA government over the resignation of Kashmiri IAS officer Shah Faesal.
Chidambaram saluted Faesal and dubbed his resignation an “indictment of the BJP government.” He said in a tweet, “Though sad, I salute Mr @shahfaesal IAS (now resigned). Every word of his statement is true and is an indictment of the BJP government. The world will take note of his cry of anguish and defiance.”
Though sad, I salute Mr @shahfaesal IAS (now resigned). Every word of his statement is true and is an indictment of the BJP government. The world will take note of his cry of anguish and defiance.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) January 10, 2019
Referring to the statements that Faesal had made, Chidambaram stated, “Not long ago, Ribeiro, the legendary police officer, said the same thing, but there was not a word of reassurance from the rulers. Such statements from our fellow citizens must make us hang our heads in regret and shame.”
It is of great concern that such a senior of the biggest Opposition party has chosen to side with a man who called India ‘Rapistan’ merely to oppose Narendra Modi. In fact, a departmental inquiry was initiated against Faesal for his remark. It was said that the ‘officer has failed to maintain absolute honesty and integrity in discharging his duties’.
In his post on social media where he announced his resignation, Faesal alleged that his decision to quit the services has been provoked by the “unabated” killings of Muslims in Kashmir and mainland India at the hands of “Hindutva” forces. Faesal contended that the absence of any political initiative to restore normalcy back to Kashmir valley had motivated him to leave the administrative services.
Faesal has also alluded that the democracy in the country is in danger as ‘subversive’ forces are presiding over the democratic institutions and are bent on altering their nature and functioning. He has also mentioned that he will be revealing about his future plans at a press conference this Friday.
It is rather disheartening to see that senior politicians in the country are choosing to side with people of questionable character to merely score political brownies. Chidambaram himself is going through a rather torrid time. On the 7th of January, he was interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate in the INX Media case.
Both P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram are accused in the INX Media scam which involves charges of bribery and lobbying in granting foreign investments worth Rs 300 crores to INX Media. INX Media was later known as NewsX, it was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukherjee of the sensational Sheena Bora murder case. ED had initiated a probe on the basis of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s FIR. Chidambaram is accused of misusing his power as the finance minister to grant INX Media an FIPB clearance.
Meanwhile, the CBI and other agencies are also probing a similar case involving Chidambaram and his son, the Aircel-Maxis scam. The CBI is probing alleged irregularities in grant of FIPB approval in Aircel-Maxis deal, while the ED is probing alleged money-laundering related to the deal.
In retrospect, a politician under investigation for his alleged involvement in scams siding with a man who called India ‘Rapistan’ does not come across as all that shocking after all.
