A photograph of the senior Journalist Ved Pratap Vaidk posed in a casual meeting with a terrorist mastermind Hafiz Saeed starked a controversial uproar in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Congress leader Manish Tewari asked the BJP government to clarify Ved Pratap Vaidk's meet with Hafiz Saeed. Known to be Ramadev Baba's close aide, the photograph with Vaidk and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed raised many questions as it was out on Sunday. Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, is accussed of plotting a series of strikes in India including the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Tewari termed the meeting with Saeed as bizarre and said that it is intriguing that a senior journalist like Vaidik met India's mastermind behind 26/11 attacks.
Another senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, tweeted saying, "Ved Pratap Vedik meets Hafiz Sayeed. Any reaction on social media? Did he go as an envoy of NDA Govt or as a personal envoy of prime minsiter?"
Reacting to Singh's tweet, Vaidk responded, "I have never been a special envoy for any PM, I am my own envoy. If I didn't become an envoy for Indira Gandhi, Narsimha Rao or Atal Behari Vajpayee why would I be an envoy for Narendra Modi? I have been meeting presidents and prime ministers of countries and rebel forces, I wasn't envoy of any PM." He also added, "Salman Khursheed and Mani Shankar Aiyer were also part of delegation. I put my life in danger."
Protests by the Congress leader paved way to the adjournment of the Rajya Sabha till noon. According to PTI, when the House reassembled, Congress members again raised the issue, with senior member Anand Sharma saying that Saeed is the most wanted terrorist not just in India but all over the world. Jaitley responded saying that for India, Hafiz is a terrorist and was indeed involved in terrorism against India.
Government of India has nothing to do with "directly, indirectly or even remotely" with any journalist meeting Saeed, he said. "Government had not sanctioned permission to anyone for meeting him (Saeed)," he said.
Reports said Ved Pratap Vaidik, a freelance journalist, had met the Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief in Lahore on July 2 while touring Pakistan along with a group of journalists and politicians invited by a peace research institute.
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