Former People’s Democratic Party MP Tariq Hameed Karra joined the Congress on Saturday, but he plunged his new party into a controversy by describing Army chief General Bipin Rawat as “politically motivated” for promising “tough action” against those supporting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
“As far as the Army chief’s statement is concerned … it is a politically motivated statement,” he said, even as he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “politicising” an independent institution such as the Army. To a question, Mr. Karra said the Army was an institution that should not be politicised; neither should anything be said that could adversely affect its morale.
Pressed further, Mr. Karra said, “I linked the Army chief’s statement with Mr. Modi [because he is] politicising [the situation] and his Ministers are politicising for the sake of the party. Unfortunately, for our Prime Minister, his party is paramount, not national interest.”
Mr. Karra’s former party, the PDP, is an alliance partner of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir.
Soni’s stand
Asked if the Congress supported Mr. Karra’s remarks, party general secretary and in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir affairs Ambika Soni distanced herself from his remarks, while accusing the BJP of politicising the Army chief’s statement.
“The Army chief’s statement has been politicised by the BJP and [MoS] Jitendra Singh, and we agree with him on this. It is wrong and unfortunate for the ruling party to politicise things connected with the Army,” Ms. Soni said.
She said Mr. Karra had not said that the Army chief’s statement was “politically motivated”, but that “the statement was being used politically by Dr. Jitendra Singh. When Jitendra Singh tries to politicise and accuse the Congress of supporting those involved in terrorist activities, he is deliberately trying to politicise the situation.”
The Congress had always stood against terrorism and had sacrificed its top leaders to terrorism, she said. “Not once but many times, the Congress has said that it has zero tolerance to terrorism in any form. And the best people to handle terrorism are members of the armed forces,” Ms. Soni said.
This comes against the backdrop of General Rawat’s statement snowballing into a major controversy with the BJP and other parties indulging in a political slugfest.
Earlier, Mr. Karra joined the Congress, alleging that the PDP-BJP alliance in Jammu and Kashmir was implementing only the “RSS agenda.” He had submitted his resignation from the Lok Sabha in September 2016 protesting against the alleged excesses committed by security forces in silencing widespread protests after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani.
On Saturday in the capital, he met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
