Blaming the media for blowing out of proportion his claim of talking to slain police officer Hemant Karkare AICC, general secretary Digvijay Singh on Thursday said, his comments were not new and were in consistence with his earlier remarks. He, however, insisted that it is not secret that the police officer, who was killed during 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, was under “threat from Hindu fundamentalist”.
Cornered even within his own party, as nobody in the Congress has so far came forward to support his claim that he had a telephonic conversation with late Karkare on the fateful day and the police officer shared with him of his threat perception from Hindu fundamentalists, Mr Singh said, “If you brand me pro-Pakistan by claiming that I have weakened country’s fight against terrorism, then I have no option but to ask you, who has created the controversy? First it was media, which used my old statement and published it promptly and then the BJP, which made all kinds of hue and cry without introspecting about their own role in fight against terrorism.” The Congress leader also asserted that he was not questioning the involvement of Pakistani terrorists in 26/11.
Claiming himself as a true Congress soldier, the AICC general secretary said, “As my party has never compromised either with Muslim league or with Hindu Mahasabha, I am here to vociferously oppose fundamentalists from either sides. I shall voice against those forces and nobody can stop me doing that.”
Rejecting suggestions that he made the remarks keeping in mind the upcoming Assam elections, where there is sizeable Muslim population, the Congress leader said, “There is nothing of that sort, as I have been saying this for last two years. This is because of my fight against communal forces in the country.”
Mr Singh also clarified that Mumbai police officer Rakesh Maria had spoken about telephone calls to late Karkare in the morning while “I spoke to him in the evening”. Besides he recalled that Mr Maria’s role during 26/11 was questioned by Vinita Kamte, the wife of slain Mumbai police officer Ashok Kamte.
When reminded of his earlier statement that he had records of the conversation, Mr Singh said, “I said I had records. I did not know that BSNL does not keep telephone records beyond a period of one year.”