Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram spoke at the India Today Conclave 2019 about how Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) government is politicising the airstrike carried by India Air Force. He stressed that his own party Congress behaved in an exemplary manner. Following are a few important quotes from the discussion:
– We were among the first to congratulate Indian Air Force for the Air Strike.
– IAF does not belong to the BJP. The IAF belongs to the country.
– I do not think it’s right for the leader of a political party, which is a ruling party to claim credit for the what IAF did. That is politicisation.
-The Indian Air Force has not claimed anything about casualties.
– We must keep the distinction between the Indian Air Force and the government.
– I am prepared to believe my government, but the world can not be asked to suspend disbelief.
– 2008 terror attack was clearly a terror attack, origins of which were in Pakistan. After that until 2014 May 26, there was no terror attack in India which it had origins in Pakistan.
– Only after the NDA Government came into office, we had three terrorist attacks this is the fourth one where the government itself said origins are in Pakistan — Pathankot, Uri, Nagrota and now Pulwama.
– Only time will tell whether Air Strike is a right move or not so right move.
– It’s not worrying us; we are behaving as a responsible opposition, we heeded the request of the home minister. We have maintained politically correct silence, allowing the government to take the right actions.
– We are damned if we do, we are damned if we do not do, that’s the motto of the media.
– It’s a muscular militaristic majoritarian approach in Kashmir that has brought Kashmir to the situation today.
– Until 2014, and even early part of 2015, we had the visible declining trend of infiltration, casualties of civilian and security forces. Since then it climbed so rapidly, 2018 has been the worst year since 1990.
– The muscular military majoritarian approach in Kashmir has pushed Kashmir to the brink and pushed Kashmiris in the arms of the military.
– Diffuse the crisis situation in Kashmir valley and try to win hearts and minds of Kashmiris even when you trying to stop infiltration.