'Misinformation': Chidambaram clarifies stance on Pahalgam attack remark; hits out at 'trolls'
P Chidambaram
on Monday pushed back against criticism over his comments on the government's response to the
Pahalgam terror attack
.
Chidambaram defended himself, accusing trolls of misrepresenting his interview.
'Trolls are of different kinds and use different tools to spread misinformation. The worst kind is a troll who suppresses the full recorded interview, takes two sentences, mutes some words, and paints the speaker in a black colour! The full interview is on QUINT,' he said.
In an interview with The Quint, the former home minister had raised pointed questions about the aftermath of the April 22 attack that killed 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, and India's subsequent military operation targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir
During the interview, Chidambaram had asked, 'Where are the terrorist attackers? Why have you not apprehended them? Why have you not even identified them? Suddenly a news item emerges that we have arrested two or three people who gave them shelter.
Now what happened to that?' He further added, 'The Government is unwilling to disclose what the NIA has done all these weeks. Have they identified the terrorists, where they came from? I mean, for all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists.
Why do you assume that they came from Pakistan? There's no evidence of that. They are also hiding the losses.'
The remarks sparked sharp backlash from the BJP, with Union minister Pralhad Joshi accusing Chidambaram of giving a "clean chit to Pakistan". 'The same people, when they were in power, used to say that there is no hand of Pakistan,' Joshi said. BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya alleged that Congress 'always bend over backwards to protect the enemy,' and questioned why opposition leaders sound 'more like Islamabad's defence lawyers'.
Amidst the escalating political row, the Lok Sabha is holding a special discussion today on Operation Sindoor, India's military response to the Pahalgam attack.
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