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New Delhi, Oct. 23: The
BJP today attacked national security adviser M.K. Narayanan
for “shooting his mouth off” about evidence linking
the ISI to the 7/11 train blasts in Mumbai.
Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad advised him to exercise restraint and not make a mockery of issues concerning national security.
“Despite the fact he is supposed to be an expert on terror, he first created unnecessary panic by declaring that Indian atomic energy installations were under threat of a terrorist attack. Then he went on to claim that the Indian Army has been infiltrated by al Qaida and the Lashkar-e-Toiba. Was it fair to create suspicions about the credentials of the armed forces?” Prasad asked.
“And now we have him publicly claiming that though the evidence against the ISI in the Mumbai blasts is not ‘clinching’, it is certainly ‘good evidence’. Surely, the nation has a right to be educated about the nuanced distinction between ‘good’ and ‘clinching’ evidence about the ISI’s involvement in a national tragedy like the Mumbai blasts.”
Narayanan had said in a TV interview yesterday: “I think it is as good evidence as you can possibly get in a terror case. Whether it is clinching is for the courts to decide.... There are some pieces of the puzzle missing.... So I am hesitant to say that the evidence is clinching. But it is pretty good.”
The BJP leader alleged that Narayanan was trying to let Pakistan off the hook while “berating” Mumbai police, who have done a “commendable” job.
“Our concern is that he is trying to give an elbow room to Pakistan by denying their role in fomenting trouble in India,” he said.
“Now Pakistan can insist on a joint investigation through the so-called joint mechanism, which in itself embraces Pakistan as a victim not a perpetrator of terror.”
Prasad asked the Prime Minister to advise the NSA not to “shoot his mouth off” as it embarrasses the security forces. “It would also be prudent for the PM and his NSA not to turn serious issues concerning national security into comic affairs that embarrass the security forces and investigating agencies. This is particularly relevant to our concerns involving Pakistan’s role in sponsoring terror in India,” he said.
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