Sonia, Manmohan party to decision to free Azhar: Amit Shah
NEW DELHI: BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday accused Congress chief Rahul Gandhi of using the Kandahar hijacking as a political tool. He reminded Rahul that soon after the hijacking, then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had called an all-party meeting attended by the entire opposition in which Congress’s Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh were present.
“Respecting the sentiments of the country, all parties unanimously agreed that lives of passengers in the hijacked plane were precious. All parties decided to set Masood Azhar free and bring back citizens of our country. It was not a goodwill gesture but there was no other option,” Shah wrote in a blog.
The safety of the hostages was the government’s responsibility, Shah wrote, adding, “Unfortunately Rahul Gandhi is trying to misguide people by questioning why the government set Masood Azhar free,” Shah wrote.
Shah said Congress leaders should tell the country that 25 hardcore terrorists were set free in 2010 when UPA-2 was in power. “One of them, Shahid Latif, was the key handler of the Pathankot terror attack,” Shah claimed. He said if Rahul was making the Kandahar hijacking a poll issue, he should also talk about release of 10 terrorists in exchange of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.
