EXCLUSIVE: Pakistan mothership of terror, BJP 'mothership' of communal violence: Kapil Sibal

Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Kapil Sibal has lashed out at the BJP calling the ruling party "mothership of violence". He also criticised the BRICS' Goa Declaration and termed it "weak" because of India's failure to have Pakistan mentioned as a nation supporting terror. He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to gain political mileage out of the surgical strikes conducted in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

However, Sibal, in an exclusive interview to India Today TV in Karan Thapar's 'To The Point' programme, lauded India's defence deals with Russia on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. He sought to defend Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on the "khoon ki dalali" remark, made in the context of the surgical strikes, by saying one should understand his intent.

Also read: Khoon ki dalali: Rahul says he supports surgical strikes but slams use of Army in BJP posters

Also read: Our jawans conducted the surgical strikes, gave their blood. You (PM Modi) are hiding behind their blood: Rahul Gandhi

VIOLENCE

The former Law Minister slammed Modi and called the BJP-led NDA government "communal". He said, "BJP is the mothership of violence. Twelve thousand local riots have taken place after 2014. The communal graph is rising in the Modi era. There has been a 17 per cent increase in 2015 and 2016," and alleged that the PM was polarising the country.

In one of his tweets he said that

Pakistan 'mothership' of terror
BJP 'mothership' of communal 'fasad'

love jihad , beef politics , conversions...
to polarize UP politics Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) October 17, 2016

BRICS SUMMIT

On the BRICS Summit in Goa, Sibal accused Modi of mishandling it. He said there was no focus on terror and more specifically there was no agreements on terror exported by Pakistan. He alleged that Modi was misleading the nation on terror as there was no mention of terror attacks in Uri, Pathankot Gurdaspur, cross border terror, Pakistan and terror groups such as Jaish and LeT.

"The Goa Declaration was weak. It's not a theatrical performance. China snubbed Modi. Hence, the BRICS meet was disappointing," he said.

Also read: BRICS Summit: PM Modi calls Pakistan 'mothership of terror'

Also read: Sushma Swaraj: BRICS recognised 'state-protected terror as biggest challenge'

DEFENCE DEAL WITH RUSSIA

However, the Congress leader praised India and Russia for signing a deal for procurement of S-400 Triumf air defence systems by the former in Goa. That was the only positive comment on the NDA Government which he made throughout the programme. "Triumf deal is an achievement," he said.

Also read: India, Russia ink deal to jointly produce 200 Kamov 226T helicopters; all you need to know

SURGICAL STRIKES

On surgical strikes, he said no one should question them but he said no one should politicize them either. He accused Defence Minister Mahohar Parrikar of politicising the strikes. He claimed that strikes had happened in 2011 too during the Congress-led UPA government but it was not publicised. He alleged that Modi was trying to gain political mileage out of the operations.

Also read: Credit for surgical strikes goes to PM Modi, only helped in planning: Parrikar

OPERATION GINGER

On Operation Ginger, which took place in 2011, he expressed ignorance, saying he was not a part of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). However, he said the Congress did not politicise the issue. Even in hindsight, he sought to defend the Manmohan Singh's government of not making the earlier strikes public. He said India will stand to lose internationally by making the surgical strikes public.

RAHUL GANDHI'S 'KHOON KI DALALI' REMARK

While Sibal was on the aggressive on surgical strikes and BRICS Summit, he was seen completely on the defensive on Rahul's "khoon ki dalali" remark. Without going into much detail, he said, "It's the intent that matters and the message has been conveyed to the people."

Also read: Dalali part of Congress vocabulary: Amit Shah tears into Rahul Gandhi's 'khoon ki dalali' remark

BAN ON PAKISTANI ARTISTES

On the ban on Pakistani artistes in the aftermath of a spate of terror attacks from across the border, the former Union minister was of the view that politics was being played on it. According to him, it was wrong to ban the Pakistani artistes. He said the PM should stop giving visas to Pakistani artistes if the Centre has to ban them.

Also read: MNS threatens to beat filmmakers who work with Pakistan artistes

Also read: See what we do then: MNS warns Karan Johar against casting Pakistan artists

Sibal also said the PM should stop buying Chinese goods. "The government is trying to get political mileage. It is a pure politics by the government on ban," he said.

Watch the full interview here: