Live
- DEO suspends teacher accused of sexual assault
- PM ‘cursing’ Congress out of despair: Maharashtra Cong Chief
- Applications are invited for Junior Colleges Scheme District Scheduled Castes Development Officer Ramlal
- A nomination was filed on the second day for the Nagar Kurnool parliamentary seat
- SP Gaikwad inspected the Telangana Amarnath Saleswaram Jatara yatra arrangements
- Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from Wayanad shows 'lack of confidence': BJP President Nadda
- IPL 2024: Delhi bowlers will go after all of SRH’s top-order batters, says head coach Ricky Ponting
- At Amroha rally, PM Modi sends out ‘meaningful’ message for Muslims and Hindus
- Tripura records highest 79.83 pc voter turnout in Northeast
- The government has to clear the confusion
Vaidik-Saeed issue snowballs
Vaidik-Saeed issue snowballs, The Modi government on Tuesday condemned the meeting of freelance journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik with 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed and denied government’s involvement in felicitating such a meeting.
- Vaidik says risked life for interview with Hafiz Saeed
- Sena demands arrest; no relation with RSS: Ram Madhav
- No harm if Kashmir made an independent nation: Vaidik
- Won`t protest Modi`s visit to Pakistan, Saeed told Vaidik
New Delhi: The Modi government on Tuesday condemned the meeting of freelance journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik with 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed and denied government’s involvement in felicitating such a meeting.
Amid repeated adjournments in both Houses of Parliament and the offensive launched by Congress V-P Rahul Gandhi, who termed Vaidik as an “RSS” man, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that the Modi government had no role in felicitating the interview.
“He (Vaidik) did not inform the government either before his departure or after the visit,” she added. In the Rajya Sabha, she took objection to the accusations of “back-channel diplomacy” and “hidden-agenda” of the government behind the secret meetings. Sushma informed that the government has sought report from the Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan and promised to share all the details of the report with the Opposition.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad wanted to know if Vaidik sought permission from the government to interview Hafiz Saeed and why Vaidik overstayed in Pakistan, while the rest of the delegation of 13 persons, who visited Pakistan at the invite of Regional Peace Institute, returned after three days.
Why did not the Intelligence agencies keep track of Vaidik’s meetings in Pakistan, when throughout his visit, he kept on flaunting of his high-level meetings with Pakistan Prime Minister. He also objected to Vaidik’s interview where he talked about independent Kashmir and felt that PoK and Jammu & Kashmir should be united and ruled by the Kashmiris.
Deputy Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma wanted to know from the External Affairs Minister whether he was acting as an emissary or intermediary of the government and whether the Modi government was keeping a track of his movements in Pakistan.
He also wondered why the Indian government was kept in the dark and whether the High Commissioner had sent the report to MEA about his visit.
Earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha was adjourned thrice on the issue, while the Lok Sabha was adjourned twice. While the heat on the government is over, after Sushma Swaraj’s reply, relatives of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks victims have demanded Vaidik’s arrest.
