Indore: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhitriggered a spat with both the BJP and SP on Thursday claiming intelligence agencies in Pakistan were in touch with riot victims in Muzaffarnagar to ensnare them into terrorism during an election rally in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. "A couple of days ago, an intelligence officer walked into my office and told me that people from Pakistan are talking to the relatives of Muslims killed in Muzaffarnagar. The officer told me that he has been trying to convince victims not to get swayed by Pakistani propaganda," said Rahul.
"Who will douse the fires of communalism? The saffron brigade is creating hatred between Hindus and Muslims. And it's the Congress which has to douse it," he said. BJP's approach will impact on the security and integrity of India, he said. But UP minister and ruling SP's Muslim face Azam Khan, taking a dim view of Rahul's comment, said, "A leader like Rahul must not take a statement of any junior level intelligence officer so seriously as to make a comment at a rally. If he'd come to know about any such thing he should have communicated it to the UP government and the concerned ministry at the Centre."
BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Husain told agencies in New Delhi, "Rahul Gandhi has tried to point the needle of suspicion at Muslims by his remarks. He has raised questions about the patriotism of Indian Muslims by saying they were approached by ISI. This is unfortunate. He should apologise for his remarks." Playing the family's martyrdom card, Rahul said his father was his idol and asked the crowd, "Don't you all love your father as I do?"
Earlier, speaking in Rahatgarh, Rahul told his party's faction-ridden MP unit to unite and uproot the BJP from power. "The Congress will remain united and candidates will not be a particular leader's man, but a representative of the party," he said in this dusty village in Bundelkhand. "If Congress remains united, nobody can defeat us," he said. Recalling his 2008 visit to Bundelkhand when the region was hit by a drought, he said, "I came here and visited UP and MP, spent nights and got bitten by mosquitoes, drank village water and suffered a bad stomach. I made that effort because your leaders should know the life you lead in rural areas.”
Meanwhile, the UP police denied having any information about Pakistani intelligence agencies being in touch with Muslim youths in Muzaffarnagar. "We have no such information. He (Rahul) might have got the information from somewhere. We will also get it verified", said additional director general, law and order, Mukul Goel in Lucknow.
