Jinnah row: UP minister suggests narco test for Akhilesh Yadav for glorifying Jinnah
Read history books again, Akhilesh to detractors
Lucknow/Ballia, Nov 6: The SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday sought to defend his widely criticised statement equating Muhammad Ali Jinnah with Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru and saying they helped India get freedom even as an UP minister suggested a narco test for him for "glorifying" the Pakistani leader.
As the row over the Samajwadi Party(SP) leader's comments raged, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, without naming Yadav, described the remarks as "shameful and condemnable" and warned people against political parties which equate Sardar Patel with Jinnah. His ministerial colleague Anand Swaroop Shukla also said those heaping praises on Jinnah should go to Pakistan.
Yadav on his part hit out at his detractors, asking them to read history books again.
Asked by reporters in Lucknow about his response to the row over his remarks that had kicked up a controversy ahead of the Assembly elections in UP, the former chief minister shot back, "Why should I say the context? I would say read the books again."
Yadav's counter-attack drew a sharp response from UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh, who in a Hindi tweet said, "The love for Jinnah still remains intact. Akhilesh Yadav ji please tell which history books have to be read -- the Indian or the Pakistani."
On October 31, Yadav had said, "Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah studied in the same institute and became barristers. They helped (India) get freedom and never backed away from any struggle."
Minister Shukla told reporters in Ballia that Jinnah is responsible for the division of the country.
"Jinnah is a villain, who no Indian would like to see or listen to. Akhilesh Yadav must clarify as to under which pressure, greed, is he glorifying Jinnah?"
"I want Akhilesh Yadav to himself come forward, and get his narco test done," he said. A narco test involves the injection of a drug, sodium pentothal, which induces a hypnotic or sedated state in which the subject's imagination is neutralised, and they are expected to divulge true information.
Shukla further said that those raising 'zindabad' slogans in praise of Jinnah, having thoughts and feelings of Jinnah in their mind, have no place in India. "They themselves should go to Pakistan," the BJP leader added.
Speaking at a public event in Auraiya, Adityanath, without naming Yadav, said a leader of a party had a few days back in a speech attempted to equate Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the man who symbolised the unity of India, with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who divided the country. The chief minister said the entire state should reject such "shameful and condemnable" remarks.
"Sardar Patel, who symbolised India's integrity, united over 563 kingdoms with India (at the time of Independence). We have to understand the mindset of the elements, who are trying to equate Sardar Patel with Jinnah. Sardar Patel united the country, while Jinnah divided the country, both cannot be contemporaries ('samkaksh').
"Sardar Patel was a 'rashtranayak' (national hero), but Jinnah was the one to break the unity of India. We have to be alert of people who are trying to equate them," Adityanath said.
The SP also demanded the sacking of Shukla for accusing Yadav of getting economic support from Pakistan's spy agency ISI.
On Friday, SP workers staged a protest at the District Collectorate building to demand the registration of a case against the minister. The opposition party has demanded that a case be registered against Shukla for making insulting remarks against the party chief, and spreading animosity in the society.
SP's Ballia district unit chief Raj Mangal Yadav, meanwhile, said there will be intense protests against the minister and that he will not be allowed to enter the district if the administration doesn't take action against him.
जिन्ना के प्रति प्रेम अभी भी अटूट है...@yadavakhilesh जी इतिहास की किताबें हिन्दुस्तान की पढ़नी है या पाकिस्तान की? pic.twitter.com/dD0GG5ssAl
— Swatantra Dev Singh (@swatantrabjp) November 6, 2021
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Why assume that they came from Pakistan: Chidambaram's remark on Pahalgam attackers sparks political
New Delhi: A political storm has erupted after senior Congress leader and former finance minister P. Chidambaram questioned the Union government’s narrative surrounding the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent Operation Sindoor.
In an interview with The Quint, Chidambaram questioned the assumption that the attackers were from Pakistan, arguing that the government has not shared sufficient information to support that claim. He suggested that the assailants could be homegrown, questioning the lack of evidence linking them to Pakistan.
"Have they identified the terrorists? Where they came 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," he had said in the interview.
Highlighting the scattered nature of updates, Chidambaram pointed out that key information was being shared by different officers in various locations, rather than through a comprehensive statement from senior government officials like the Prime Minister or the Defence Minister.
Meanwhile, the saffron party has reacted sharply to his comments, accusing the Congress of undermining national security and echoing Pakistan’s narrative. BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya posted on X, “Once again, the Congress rushes to give a clean chit to Pakistan, this time after the Pahalgam terror attack. Why is it that every time our forces confront Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, Congress leaders sound more like Islamabad's defence lawyers than India's opposition?"
However, Chidambaram referred to the criticism as a "deliberate misinformation campaign" and mentioned that his comments were being misrepresented by selectively muting and clipping portions of his interview. “Trolls are of different kinds and use different tools to spread misinformation. The worst kind is a troll who suppresses the full recorded interview, takes two sentences, mutes some words, and paints the speaker in a black colour!” he wrote on X.
