IndiaToday journalist Rajdeep Sardesai got schooled once again on his show after he tried to bat for the Congress party. On the 6th of May, former Congress leader and now a Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) MP Milind Deora exposed Congress’s pro-Pakistan proclivities as Sardesai raised questions over Shiv Sena advertisements saying that Congress and I.N.D.I. Alliance’s victory will be celebrated in Pakistan.
“Your vote, do you want it to lead to celebrations in Bharat or Pakistan?” the ad published by the Shiv Sena reads. Regarding this, Sardesai questioned Deora if his party wanted to lead the poll campaign of this sort when the NDA is talking about development and future.
To this, Milind Deora questioned Sardesai if national security is not essential to take India to the next stage as NDA talks about Viksit Bharat (Developed India). “To equate India with its hostile neighbours with a Hindu Muslim narrative…for the media and the opposition,” Deora said as Sardesai interrupted him to ask if Deora intended to say that Congress is pro-Pakistan and anti-Hindu.
An infuriated Rajdeep Sardesai alleged that the “Shiv Sena ad is fear-mongering that if I am voting Congress party I am being pro-Pakistan.”
"Congress stands on the wrong side of the issues that matter to India," @milinddeora attacks Congress | #EXCLUSIVE
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) May 6, 2024
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Congress after 26/11 attacks
Responding to Sardesai’s allegation, Milind Deora recalled the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and how the Congress leaders acted absolutely against the interest of India and blamed Hindus for the terror attack.
“…I tried to improve things from within. There was a growing perception that Congress stands on the wrong side of the issues that matter to India. Let me give you an example. I was the MP from South Mumbai in 2008 when 26/11 [terror attack] happened here…I worked closely with then PM Dr Manmohan Singh. The intention of the government of India and the law enforcement agencies was to tell the world, the United Nations that Pakistan is behind this. By the way Pakistan itself admitted that 26/11 was their own doing. We caught Ajmal Kasab, he was tried and sentenced to death,” Deora said.
“What was the statement by Congress leaders soon after that terror attack? Congress leaders released a book which diverted attention away from Pakistan and they blamed the Hindu community for that attack. Who made it a Hindu-Muslim issue in the first place…” Deora added.
Sardesai, however, tried to downplay the anti-Hindu actions of the Congress leaders who blamed Hindus for the Mumbai terror attack by asserting that it was their individual opinion and they just attended the book release. Deora while responding to the question about what he did to oppose this, said that he raised his voice opinion within the party’s internal forums.
It is worth noting that Aziz Burney, notorious for his anti-Hindu rants, published a book titled “26/11 RSS Ki Saazish?”. (26/11: An RSS Conspiracy?) to blame RSS for the Mumbai terror attacks carried out by the Pakistan-based Islamic terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. To lend credence to the book authored by the then-editor-in-chief of the Sahara Urdu newspaper, Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh personally launched it twice, once in Delhi and again in Mumbai. The same Aziz Burney also also claimed that the ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who lost his life in the Mumbai terror attack, was killed by the Indian Army.
Milind Deora also talked about the recent statement by the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra assembly, Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar who said that the bullet that killed IPS officer Hemant Karkare was not fired by Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab but from the weapon of an ‘RSS-linked’ police officer. He also mentioned the 2020-2021 India-China Galwan skirmishes and how the Modi government banned the Chinese short video app TikTok for security and economic reasons. He said that the Congres party opposed and trolled him for supporting the government over its decision to ban the said app.
Citing all these incidents, Milind Deora said that it makes the people doubt “why Congress party which has a legacy of its own is suddenly on the wrong side of India.”
Rajdeep, however, tried to insinuate that many in Pakistan would also celebrate PM Modi’s victory and so is it fine to run a campaign like if one votes Congress, Pakistan will celebrate. The IndiaToday journalists’s haranguing came despite the fact that just a few ago former Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhry supported senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as he reposted a video of the Gandhi scion’s polemics against the Modi government and said “Rahul on fire.”
As Sardesai continued to assert that ShivSena is lowering the standard of poll campaigns with such advertisements attacking Congress over its pro-Pakistan views, Deora hit back asking if Congress is not lowering the level of debate by giving clean chit to Pakistan adding that national security is not a fringe but important issue and it matters in the elections too.
