Prashant Bhushan gets schooled.
Activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan's tweet on Pulwama suicide bomber has enraged many including top BJP leaders. Prashant Bhushan on Friday shared an article regarding Pulwama bomber and sought to find some non-existent nuance in the action of the youth from Pulwama.
Bhushan tweeted: "Pulwama bomber Adil Ahmad Dar became terrorist after he was beaten by troops". It's imp to understand why so many young men in Kashmir are becoming militants&willing to die. Even US forces couldn't hold Afghanistan & Iraq after large-scale suicide attacks".
This seeking to 'understand' a terrorist, who have killed 40 of India's CRPF jawans didn't go down well with most. BJP's firebrand leader Meenakshi Lekhi who is also a spokesperson of the party slammed Bhushan and asked the Bar Council to take action. Here's what she said:
Shameful! Insulting the brave hearts and indulging in false propaganda. If insults made people terrorists then unjust treatment meted out to Kashmiri Hindus would have produced millions of terrorists. Bar Council should take cognisance of such provocative acts Jai Hind https://t.co/J8wjrU0N1c
— Meenakashi Lekhi (@M_Lekhi) February 16, 2019
BJP MP said, " Shameful! Insulting the brave hearts and indulging in false propaganda. If insults made people terrorists then unjust treatment meted out to Kashmiri Hindus would have produced millions of terrorists. Bar Council should take cognisance of such provocative acts Jai Hind".
For context. Kashmiri Pandits had to leave the Valley in huge numbers fearing violence in 1990. Now, only a handful of them live in the Valley and despite assurance from successive governments, they have not been able to return.
This controversy erupted even as the whole country is seething with anger over Pulwama terror attack and with PM Modi assuring that befitting reply will be given by Indian forces.
Political parties Saturday put up a united face as they underlined India's determination to fight terrorism following the Pulwama terror attack and expressed their solidarity with security forces in defending the country's unity and integrity.
An all-party meeting, called by the government and attended by senior leaders of all major parties, passed a resolution condemning the terror attack and the support being given to it from across the border. Members of the opposition extended support to the government in tackling the challenge.
In the meeting chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad asked him to urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convene a meeting of the presidents of all major national and regional parties, a view supported by Derek O'Brien of the Trinamool Congress and D Raja of the CPI.
1. What did Prashant Bhushan say?
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"Pulwama bomber Adil Ahmad Dar became terrorist after he was beaten by troops". It's imp to understand why so many young men in Kashmir are becoming militants&willing to die. Even US forces couldn't hold Afghanistan & Iraq after large-scale suicide attackshttps://t.co/2mr5d3WK2Z
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) February 16, 2019
Bhushan drew parallel to what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan to try to analyse why youth are going towards militancy. For that, he cited an article which said that the Pulwama bomber was insulted by the forces.
2. What is the 'insult' story all about?
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Reuters quoted Pulwama suicide bomber Adil Ahmed Dar's father and mother as saying., " We are in pain in the same way the families of the soldiers are," said farmer Ghulam Hassan Dar, adding that his son had been radicalised after police stopped him and his friends on the way home from school in 2016.
"They were stopped by the troops and beaten up and harassed," Dar said, adding that the students were accused of stone-pelting. "Since then, he wanted to join the terrorists."
His mother, Fahmeeda, also corroborated her husband's account.
"He was beaten by the troops a few years back when he was returning from school," she said. "This led to anger in him against the troops."
3. BJP leaders criticise Prashant Bhushan
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At least two BJP MPs have taken strong view of Prashant Bhushan's tweets.
Meenakshi Lekhi tweeted:
Shameful! Insulting the brave hearts and indulging in false propaganda. If insults made people terrorists then unjust treatment meted out to Kashmiri Hindus would have produced millions of terrorists. Bar Council should take cognisance of such provocative acts Jai Hind https://t.co/J8wjrU0N1c
— Meenakashi Lekhi (@M_Lekhi) February 16, 2019
Another BJP MP Maheish Girri said:
Dear @RahulGandhi ji, yesterday I was really happy to see your support for the government on #PulwamaAttack. But today I am sad to see @divyaspandana supporting terrorists by RTing this tweet of Urban Naxal Prashant Bhushan. Request you to please clarify your stand on this. pic.twitter.com/jq7VXqJKg7
— Maheish Girri (@MaheishGirri) February 16, 2019
Other Twitter users also strongly criticised Prashant Bhushan.
How many Kashmiri Pandits picked guns despite being thrown out of their own house? Stop justifying terror and glorifying terrorists.
— Punit Agarwal (@Punitspeaks) February 16, 2019
There is always a reason behind someone taking up a evil path but that doesn't justify their choices. Can you justify a rapist by saying that he became rapist because he was sex deprived? May be you can. That's what you do.
— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) February 16, 2019
My entire maternal family was driven out of Kashmir simply because they were Kashmiri Pandits. No one decided to pick up arms to avenge the pathetic condition they landed in. You know why? Because our धर्म, our culture doesn't teach us that. Figure out the rest, you moron!
— Aanchal (@followaanchal) February 16, 2019
Was that you in the line outside the Pakistan High Commission visa application line @pBhushan1?
— Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) February 16, 2019
