NEW DELHI: The BJP is unwilling to let
home minister Shivraj Patil off the hook for his statements on camps for illegal
immigrants and Afzal and Sarabjit Singh.
The party has demanded that Mr Shivraj Patil apologise for ???lying??? on the issue of detention centres for illegal immigrants and for ???equating??? Sarabjit Singh with Mohamed Afzal ???Guru???. Going a step further, the party has demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh take action against Mr Patil, in the event the home minister fails to apologise. It has also said that that ???prime minister owes an explanation to the nation??? on both these counts.
The Congress continues to maintain that Mr Patil???s comments on Sarabjit Singh and Afzal Guru have been ???misinterpreted???. On the issue of the camps for illegal migrants, the Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that ???it was just a proposal and it has to be examined and nothing has been finalised.??? The BJP countered this line of defence by quoting minutes of meeting and circulars from the central government.
On a televised debate, Mr Patil had denied Rajasthan chief minister???s Vasundhra Raje???s contention that the Centre had directed the state government to round up Bangladeshi immigrants and put them in transit camps. The BJP has challenged the home minister???s contention that the Centre has not issued any direction regarding detention centres for illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. To this end, the party has quoted the minutes of several meeting held in the home ministry and circulars issued by the Centre.
Referring to the minutes of the meeting, held on January 24, 2007, of the nodal authority of home ministry on the subject of deportation of Bangladeshi migrants, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said, paragraph 5 of the minutes of this meeting clearly states that ???state government should set up detention centres for detention of illegally staying foreigners pending their deportation???. Further, on March 12, 2007, the government issued another circular for the procedure to be adopted for deportation of Bangladeshi migrants.
Another meeting followed on 25 April, 2007???the minutes were sent on May 8, 2007. Paragraph 8 of the minutes states that state government should setup detention centres and should also fund it. While paragraph 12 states that this should be done in a time bound manner.
Mr Javadekar said, ???These documents and facts clearly prove that the country???s home minister has evidently lied on this vital security initiative for political purposes and has also tried to mislead the nation on the issue. What is even worse is that instead of acknowledging these facts, the home minister and the chief minister of Delhi have instead alleged that Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje is playing a political game.???
The BJP also criticised Mr Patil???s ???irresponsible utterances??? when he compared the case of Sarabjit Singh with that of Afzal Guru. ???Nobody in the country and outside raised any demand for clemency for Afzal on any ground. But still the home minister wants to justify dilly-dallying on Afzal Guru???s hanging by giving a new and completely absurd and ridicules twist to the issue???, Mr Javadekar said. What the BJP found even more deplorable was that inherent in Mr Patil???s statement was the assumption that ???Pakistan is the spokesman of every Indian Muslims???.
Mr Javadekar said: ???This is deplorable and appears to have been stated by him with a mischievous purpose to gain political mileage and also instigate some people to raise a such a demand for granting clemency to Afzal Guru.??? Meanwhile, the Congress sought to treat the controversy over Home Minister Shivraj Patil drawing a parallel between Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru with Sarabjit Singh as closed. The Congress has assiduously maintained that Mr Patil was ???totally misinterpreted???. ???Home Minister was totally misinterpreted and one must look into his statement before drawing any conclusions,??? AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
The party has demanded that Mr Shivraj Patil apologise for ???lying??? on the issue of detention centres for illegal immigrants and for ???equating??? Sarabjit Singh with Mohamed Afzal ???Guru???. Going a step further, the party has demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh take action against Mr Patil, in the event the home minister fails to apologise. It has also said that that ???prime minister owes an explanation to the nation??? on both these counts.
The Congress continues to maintain that Mr Patil???s comments on Sarabjit Singh and Afzal Guru have been ???misinterpreted???. On the issue of the camps for illegal migrants, the Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that ???it was just a proposal and it has to be examined and nothing has been finalised.??? The BJP countered this line of defence by quoting minutes of meeting and circulars from the central government.
On a televised debate, Mr Patil had denied Rajasthan chief minister???s Vasundhra Raje???s contention that the Centre had directed the state government to round up Bangladeshi immigrants and put them in transit camps. The BJP has challenged the home minister???s contention that the Centre has not issued any direction regarding detention centres for illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. To this end, the party has quoted the minutes of several meeting held in the home ministry and circulars issued by the Centre.
Referring to the minutes of the meeting, held on January 24, 2007, of the nodal authority of home ministry on the subject of deportation of Bangladeshi migrants, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said, paragraph 5 of the minutes of this meeting clearly states that ???state government should set up detention centres for detention of illegally staying foreigners pending their deportation???. Further, on March 12, 2007, the government issued another circular for the procedure to be adopted for deportation of Bangladeshi migrants.
Another meeting followed on 25 April, 2007???the minutes were sent on May 8, 2007. Paragraph 8 of the minutes states that state government should setup detention centres and should also fund it. While paragraph 12 states that this should be done in a time bound manner.
Mr Javadekar said, ???These documents and facts clearly prove that the country???s home minister has evidently lied on this vital security initiative for political purposes and has also tried to mislead the nation on the issue. What is even worse is that instead of acknowledging these facts, the home minister and the chief minister of Delhi have instead alleged that Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje is playing a political game.???
The BJP also criticised Mr Patil???s ???irresponsible utterances??? when he compared the case of Sarabjit Singh with that of Afzal Guru. ???Nobody in the country and outside raised any demand for clemency for Afzal on any ground. But still the home minister wants to justify dilly-dallying on Afzal Guru???s hanging by giving a new and completely absurd and ridicules twist to the issue???, Mr Javadekar said. What the BJP found even more deplorable was that inherent in Mr Patil???s statement was the assumption that ???Pakistan is the spokesman of every Indian Muslims???.
Mr Javadekar said: ???This is deplorable and appears to have been stated by him with a mischievous purpose to gain political mileage and also instigate some people to raise a such a demand for granting clemency to Afzal Guru.??? Meanwhile, the Congress sought to treat the controversy over Home Minister Shivraj Patil drawing a parallel between Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru with Sarabjit Singh as closed. The Congress has assiduously maintained that Mr Patil was ???totally misinterpreted???. ???Home Minister was totally misinterpreted and one must look into his statement before drawing any conclusions,??? AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
