M A I N   N E W S

LeT’s Saeed feeds on Shinde’s Hindu terror talk, BJP fumes
Wants Home Minister sacked; asks PM, Sonia to apologise
Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Lahore, January 21
Mumbai attacks mastermind and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed on Monday sought to exploit Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's jibe against the RSS and BJP, saying Indian "propaganda" against Pakistani organisations of spreading terror now stood "exposed".

A day after Shinde accused the BJP and RSS of running terror camps and indulging in Hindu terror, Saeed went to the extend of levelling an accusation that Indian organisations were "involved in all kinds of terrorism in Pakistan". Saeed, for whom the US has announced a $10 million bounty, told a press conference in Lahore that India always resorted to propaganda against Pakistani organisations but it now stood "exposed".

He claimed: "India tried to involve us in the Mumbai attacks but after a passage of five years, nothing has been established against us in the courts". Saeed, who now heads JuD, also made a ridiculous demand asking the Pakistan government to take steps to get India declared "a terrorist state" by the UN Security Council.

The Bharatiya Janata Party stepped up pressure on the Congress seeking an unconditional apology from its top leadership for Shinde’s remarks for charging that the BJP and RSS were promoting Hindu terror and also his removal from the post.

Announcing a country-wide protest on January 24 against Shinde's remarks, the BJP Chief Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Sushilkumar Shinde must be sacked and the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi must tender an unconditional apology... BJP will not tolerate this repeated insult of Hindu and saffron traditions of India,'' he said, adding the party has never linked religion with terror as terrorists have no religion.

Although the Home Minister clarified later that his mention was about ‘Saffron forces’ behind the move and that much about involvement of some people in the Malegaon and Mecca Masjid blast cases has already been reported, the BJP condemned it as both malicious, and baseless comment by a lightweight Home Minister. The party charged that the Home Minister's comments will also help Pakistan which has always been in denial mode about flow of terrorism from its territory.

Seeking to question the Home Minister's intentions behind his comments of linking terror to Hindu organisations, the BJP leader said: “Saffron is the beacon of India's spiritual and religious heritage and holds a lot of importance in the independence of this country as saffron is also depicted on India's national flag. It is downright insult of India's spiritual, religious, cultural and civilisational heritage.”

What the 26/11 mastermind said

Hafiz Saeed, for whom the US has announced a $10 million bounty, said Indian organisations were "involved in all kinds of terrorism in Pakistan" at a press conference in Lahore on Monday. he said India always resorted to propaganda against Pakistani organisations but it now stood "exposed". He claimed "India tried to involve us in the Mumbai attacks but after a passage of five years, nothing has been established against us in the courts".