After the Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council included the name of Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Masood Azhar in the list of global terrorists, the Congress has found itself in an awkward situation. Previously, several attempts to get Azhar blacklisted had failed due to opposition from China, the friend of Pakistan. And the Congress party had attacked that Modi government getting Azhar listed despite PM Modi trying to maintain a good relationship with the Chinese government.
When eventually the dreaded terror leader was blacklisted by UNSC following relentless efforts by India, France, USA, UK and other nations, the Congress party hesitated to appreciate the Indian government for the success. Instead, the party is saying that the Modi government should not take credit for the decision taken by the UNSC committee.
But while asking BJP not to take credit, the Congress party ended up taking credit for something in which they had no role. Addressing a press conference, Congress leader Rajiv Shukla today said that Congress government had got Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hafiz Saeed declared as terrorist by the UN.
#TerroristMasoodAzhar — We got JeM declared terrorist organisation. Taking credit for all this is not right: @ShuklaRajiv pic.twitter.com/Ls7VyX8c5l
— News18 (@CNNnews18) May 2, 2019
Although the UPA-I government may have a role in the case of Hafiz Saeed as he was listed in the year 2008, Congress government can’t have a role in the listing of Jaish. Rajiv Shukla said that forget a single terrorist, we had got an entire terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad declared a terrorist organisation.
LIVE: Press Briefing by Shri @ShuklaRajiv & Smt @NayakRagini https://t.co/Vz2rZ0iuPR
— AICC Communications (@AICCMedia) May 2, 2019
But the fact is JeM was listed by UNSC sanctions committee on 17 October 2001, when Congress was not in power. At that time, NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in power in India, and the last Congress government to rule India was P V Narasimha Rao government, which lasted till 1996. The note on listing JeM by the UNSC mentions the attacks on Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and Indian Parliament in 2001, and just a few months later the organisation was declared as a global terror organisation by the UN.
Therefore, it is impossible that any Congress government any role in getting JeM blacklisted by the UN, as it was done during a BJP government, and several years after a government had ruled India.
Rajiv Shukla also took credit for the bounty of $10 million declared on Hafiz Saeed by the USA. Although the bounty was declared in 2008, when UPA-I was in power in India, there is no evidence to suggest that India played any role in the bounty announced by the USA. The USA regularly takes such decisions against terror leaders and organisations, and it was also part of such actions.
It is ironical that while Congress does not want the Indian government to take credit for a decision done by the UN, an organisation of nations where India is also a member, but they themselves are taking credit for a decision taken by a sovereign nation, that to the United States of America, the most powerful nation in the world.
