Congress distances itself from ‘suspended’ Mani Shankar Aiyar’s Pak remark

Distancing itself from a remark made by Mani Shankar Aiyar on Pakistan, Congress on Wednesday said the suspended leader has no right to speak on behalf of the party.

“The remark is his own, he is suspended from the Congress party. He doesn’t have any right to speak on the behalf of the party,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said in a press conference.

The suspended Congress leader is in Karachi to attend a literature festival. On Tuesday, while speaking to the media, he had said that he receives “much more hatred in India” than the love showered on him by people in Pakistan.

“Thousands of people, whom I don’t know, hug me, wish me. I receive much more hatred in India than the love I receive in Pakistan. So I am happy to be here. They are clapping for me because I speak of peace,” Aiyar had told a news agency.  

On Monday, Aiyar had called for “uninterrupted and uninterruptible” talks between India and Pakistan to resolve longstanding issues.

Pakistani news channel Geo News TV quoted him as saying he regrets that New Delhi doesn’t reciprocate Islamabad’s push to resolve issues through dialogue. “And I am very proud and half very sad that this sentence of these three words has been accepted as Pakistan policy, but has not been accepted as Indian policy,” he was quoted as saying.

Aiyar was suspended by the Congress for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi “neech kism ka aadmi” during the Gujarat Assembly elections campaign. Aiyar had apologised for his statement and blamed his poor command over Hindi for the misunderstanding.