The attack on Sarabjit Singh in a Pakistani jail was a ploy by the neighbouring country to deflect attention from the Chinese incursion into Indian territory, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told a press conference here on Sunday.
“A strong sentiment is building up against China in India and the world with regard to its incursion into India. The attack on Sarabjit is a very dubious attempt by Pakistan to deflect attention from China’s intrusion,” Mr. Prasad said.
He said the incident was a result of India’s “feeble and paralysed foreign policy.”
“Sarabjit has been mercilessly beaten. After the hanging of Afzal Guru and Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, there were concerns over Sarabjit’s security. What did the Indian government do to ensure it? Italian marines accused of killing Indian fishermen can be sent home for Christmas and for casting their vote,” he said.
The BJP leader hit out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for terming the Chinese incursion “a localised issue.” The government should have called an all-party meeting, but it “lacked initiative,” he said.
“Court was misled”
On the Central Bureau of Investigation’s affidavit in the coal scam, Mr. Prasad said the government had made every attempt to influence the probe.
“The meeting with the CBI was called by the Law Ministry. If the CBI needed to consult with the government, it would have done it through the legal process. dditional Solicitor-General Haren Rawal told the Supreme Court in March that the status report was not shared with the government. So that means the court was misled. The Prime Minister is directly involved in the scam. When the scam happened, he was also the Coal Minister. The investigating agency was denied files when it started the probe. And when the Supreme Court is monitoring the case, attempts are made to influence it,” he said.
“Baseless charge”
The BJP leader, who is also a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G scam, sought to know how its draft report reached the media before it came to the members. He accused the government of making “baseless” allegations against the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Two-day protest in State capitals
On May 4 and 5, the BJP would be staging demonstrations in all the State capitals against “the Prime Minister’s corruption” and the allegations against Mr. Vajpayee. Mr. Prasad called the UPA-II “the most corrupt government since Independence.”
