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National

Get your facts right, Congress tells BJP

Special Correspondent

No occasion for political bashing

NEW DELHI: Taking exception to BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s reported observations about the country’s Partition, the Congress on Thursday said book release functions should not be converted into occasions for political bashing.

While speaking on the occasion of L.K. Advani’s book release function, Mr. Singh had reportedly said that Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s action or the Partition of the country was attributable to the Congress.

“After Mr. Advani’s spirited defence of Jinnah’s secularism, we now have Mr. Singh’s spirited attribution of all Jinnah’s deeds to the Congress,” said Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi here.

“If you want to berate the Congress, you must get your facts right, you must get your history right. The BJP, Mr. Advani and Mr. Jaswant Singh — all want to rewrite history,” he said.

“What has happened to the ‘PM in waiting’ and his party that they all find virtue in Jinnah suddenly? Let not your anti-Congressism become pro-Jinnahism. Let not your hatred for the Congress belittle or destroy democratic discourse by distorting facts and history,” he told the BJP.

Terming the BJP as “Bharatiya Jinnah Party”, Mr. Singhvi asked, “Why this great urge of the BJP to defend Jinnah, to give a clean chit to Jinnah by the Bharatiya Jinnah Party?”

Questioning the role of the Sangh Parivar, Hindu Mahasabha and all elements of that parivar in the Indian freedom movement, he said they were “spitting venom” against large groups of the country and the Congress for standing by all citizens of India.

“The seeds of Partition were sown by none else than the forbears of the Sangh Parivar itself,” Mr. Singhvi said.

To a question on why none of the Congress leaders went to Mr. Advani’s book release function, he said he was not aware to whom invitations were sent. “Certainly I did not get one.”

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