Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde (L) shakes hands with Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik before their bilateral meeting in New Delhi, December 14-2012
New Delhi December 15, 2012: RSS top functionary Ram Madhav has slammed both Ministry of External Affairs and Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shindhe on poor interaction with Pakistan Minister Rahman Mallik, who yesterday made unnecess
ary comments on India’s internal matters including Babri demolition issue.
Expressing his opinions on social networking site Twitter, RSS Akhil Bharatiya Sah Sampark Pramukh Ram Madhav said “Shame on our MEA for letting lightweight Pakistan Minister Malik get away with his nonsense comments on Capt Kalia, Babri and Samjhauta. No remorse n 26/11”
Ram Madhav further tweeted, questioned Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shindhe, “Why was Home Minister Shinde unable to raise the issue of persecution of minorities in Pakistan with Rehman Malik when he had raised our internal issues like Babri?”.
Malik’s visit and His Comments:
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik today made a subtle attempt to change the narrative of the fragile India-Pakistan relationship by including Babri Masjid in the framework.
“I bring a message of peace from the people of Pakistan. We do not want 9/11, Bombay blast, Samjhauta blast or Babri Masjid. Let us forget the past and move ahead,” Mr Malik said while addressing the media with Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in New Delhi on December 14.
The 1992 Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya has not been raised by Pakistan in the context of 26/11 or any terror attack earlier. By equating Babri Masjid with the 26/11 attacks, Mr Malik may have been trying to address his constituency back home, but it took the Indian delegation by surprise and invited a retort from Mr Shinde.
“I am happy that you assure us that you will do everything to bring the masterminds of 26/11 to justice, but Pakistan has failed to deliver,” Mr Shinde grimly remarked as the function to operationalise the new liberalised visa agreement between India and Pakistan was hastily brought to an end.
The Pakistan minister also met the family of Sarabjit Singh, the Indian on death row in a Lahore jail. He promised them visa to travel to Pakistan and meet Mr Singh. “I will try my best to help you,” he told the family. Mr Singh has been on death row in Pakistan after being convicted for bombings in 1990.
Mr Malik is on a two-day visit to India as both countries introduce a new visa system that will make cross-border travel easier for businesspeople, tourists and religious pilgrims. But the talks with Mr Malik will focus extensively on the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai and India’s demand for action against mastermind Hafiz Saeed, chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
Mr Malik arrived in Delhi nearly four hours behind schedule because there was complete confusion over where his plane should land. His office was reportedly told by Indian officials in Islamabad that he could land at the Delhi’s Palam Technical Airport, often used by VIPs.
However, the Indian Air Force, which controls the airport, did not clear the plane’s arrival. While some sources said the Air Force had not been informed of Mr Malik’s arrival, others said that permission to land at Palam was denied because the handling and clearing agent assigned to deal with the Pakistani delegation was not cleared for the high-security area. The minister’s plane was then asked to land at Delhi’s T-3 international airport.
