Calling Rahul 'Jehadi and Maoist' Sympathiser is Absurd, Says Chidambaram on Jaitley's Blog

New Delhi: Former finance minister P Chidambaram brushed aside as “laughable and absurd” the allegations made by Union Minister Arun Jaitley that “jehadists and Maoists” have earned the sympathy of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

In a blog post on Friday, Jaitley had said while “jehadis and Maoists” were threatening the rights of citizens, human rights organisations “taken over by the ultra-Left” never spoke of this.

He alleged that even though the Congress historically and ideologically would have been opposed to these groups, they had earned sympathy in Gandhi’s heart.

“He had no qualms about joining those who raised subversive slogans at JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) and Hyderabad. With this initial success, the others amongst the so-called federal front have forgotten the dangers of these groups to India and Indian democracy.

“The political adventurists in parties like AAP (Aam Aadmi Party), TMC (Trinamool Congress) and the like only look for a political opportunity in these groups,” he wrote.

Attacking Jaitley, Chidambaram said the United Progressive Alliance government led by the Congress had fought the ‘jehadis’ in Jammu and Kashmir and brought down the level of violence substantially.

“The allegation that jehadists and Maoists have earned the sympathy of Rahul Gandhi is laughable and absurd. Congress is stoutly opposed to the two groups,” Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.

“Who can forget that Congress practically lost its entire leadership in Chhattisgarh to Maoist violence? Under UPA, the government fought the jehadists in Jammu and Kashmir and brought down the level of violence substantially,” he added.

Jaitley had also said that the terrorists and ‘jehadis’ were threatening the human rights of the citizens in Jammu and Kashmir.

“They terrorise courts; they kill editors; they kill innocent citizens and they don’t allow any alternate religion to be practised. Who is threatening the human rights of the citizens of Kashmir? It is obvious that it is the terrorists and the jehadis.”

He added that Maoists don’t allow any development activity in tribal regions. “They kill innocent tribals who don’t agree with them; they destroy public buildings; they kill security personnel and they even charge a parallel tax from helpless citizens.”

He said human rights were at the core of India’s Parliamentary democracy and the Constitution guaranteed these to every citizen. “Our policy has to be ‘save the human rights of every Indian - be it a tribal or a Kashmiri’ from terrorists,” Jaitley had written.

However, he had accused the human rights organisations of being taken over by the ultra-Left and said they never spoke about the deprivation of the human rights of the citizens, and “never shed a tear for the indiscriminate killing of the security personnel”.