New Delhi [India], July 29 : Targeting the Congress party and its efforts to stop cross-border terrorism, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Anurag Thakur on Monday accused Congress of repeatedly surrendering and compromising on counter-terrorism efforts. He cited the 1971 India-Pakistan war and asked why Indira Gandhi did not take back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
BJP MP Anurag Thakur said, "We have seen several surrenders and 'bawandar' in history. In the war of 1971, 93 thousand Pakistani soldiers were asked to kneel down, but Indira Gandhi did not take back PoK. This shows how much surrender she had made at that time. Atal ji made the law of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) to crack down on terrorists. The UPA government came, and the POTA law was abolished."
He further said, "Was Congress running human rights for terrorists?... Congress has always surrendered to Pakistan and terrorists, and Rahul Gandhi should answer what was the compulsion that it was necessary to surrender again and again..."
Earlier also, BJP MP Anurag Thakur on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Congress after one of its senior leaders, P Chidambaram, claimed there was "no proof" that the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam terror attack came from Pakistan.
Thakur questioned the party's apparent pro-Pakistan leanings, stating that even Pakistan does not defend itself as much as "Rahul-occupied Congress does."
Speaking to ANI, Thakur said, "Whenever it's about Pakistan and terror, even Pakistan doesn't advocate for itself as much as Rahul-occupied Congress does. What is the compulsion that Congress has to take Pakistan's side? Such a statement, coming from a former Home Minister, reveals the mentality of the Congress."
In a July 27 interview with the Quint news outlet, Chidambaram raised questions on whether the Government had taken any follow-up steps to prevent another Pahalgam.
"Where are the terrorist attackers? Why have you not apprehended them? Why have you not even identified them? Suddenly, a news item emerges that we have arrested two or three people who gave them shelter. Now what happened to that?" Chidambaram asked.
Further, the Congress leader who served as the Home Minister in the UPA tenure said, the Government was "unwilling to disclose what the NIA has done all these weeks. Have they identified the terrorists, and where did they come from? I mean, for all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists. Why do you assume that they came from Pakistan? There's no evidence of that. They are also hiding the losses."