Congress accused of defaming Hindu religion, BJP demands apology
New Delhi, April 16: The BJP on Monday accused the Congress of "defaming" the Hindu religion by coining the term "saffron terror" and demanded apologies from Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Sambit Patra made the demand after a Special NIA court acquitted all five accused in the Mecca Masjid Bomb blast case earlier in the day.
"Today after the verdict, the Congress' face has been exposed as never before," Patra told the media.
Slamming the Congress, the BJP leader said: "A former official R.V.S. Mani told the media today that Home Minister (P. Chidambaram) was involved in changing the files.
"To hide the truth, to change the truth and to change whatever was already submitted in the court through affidavit, this is what Chidambaram and others in the Congress dispensation were doing just in order to prove saffron terror.
"Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi must apologise to the nation."
The BJP leader said that those who follow Indian politics are remembering the 2013 Congress's Jaipur convention where then party President Sonia Gandhi, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi were sitting on the dias.
"Then Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in his address to the party workers read out the term saffron terror. By doing this he defamed the centuries-old Hindu religion," he alleged, adding that all the senior party leaders remained silent.
Patra said "Hindu terror" was first used by Chidambaram in 2010.
He slammed the Congress for indulging in appeasement politics for years.
He also attacked the Congress leaders for maintaining "double standards" on the court verdict.
Trading insults at the Congress President, Patra asked: "Rahulji, isn't it correct that you met US ambassador and told him that 'We don't fear the SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) but we do fear the Hindus'?"
"Didn't you tell him that the SIMI was not involved in terror activities but the Hindus were?"
He also said that all Congress leaders take lessons from Rahul Gandhi.
"Or had these leaders made statements without consulting you?" he asked.
Hitting out at Shinde, Patra said, "At the height of the appeasement politics, in 2013, Shinde sent notices to all the Chief Ministers saying to not arrest any innocent Muslim youth."
Due to its appeasement politics, the Congress was deserted in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Patra added.
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India, China decide to resume Kailash Mansarovar Yatra
New Delhi, Jan 27 (PTI): India and China on Monday decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra as the two sides agreed to take certain people-centric steps to "stabilise and rebuild" ties.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said this following Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri's talks with his Chinese counterpart Sun Weidong in Beijing.
It said the two sides also agreed in principle to resume direct air services between the two countries.
"As agreed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at their meeting in Kazan in October, the two sides reviewed the state of India-China bilateral relations comprehensively and agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilize and rebuild ties," the MEA said.
"In this context, the two sides decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025," it said.
The MEA said the two sides also agreed to hold an early meeting of the India-China expert level mechanism to discuss resumption of provision of hydrological data and other cooperation pertaining to trans-border rivers.
It said the two sides agreed to take appropriate measures to further promote and facilitate people-to-people exchanges, including media and think-tank interactions.
"They agreed in principle to resume direct air services between the two countries; the relevant technical authorities on the two sides will meet and negotiate an updated framework for this purpose at an early date," the MEA said.
