Modi cannot match Indira’s 1971 masterstroke of breaking Pakistan: Azhagiri

Chennai: In an exclusive interview, TNCC president K S Azhagiri said BJP leader and PM Narendra Modi tries to claim sole credit for nationalism and patriotism but he cannot match the patriotism and national security master-stroke effected by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who broke Pakistan into two in 1971 and created Bangladesh after driving Pakistan government and army out of East Pakistan.

“The BJP should not try to teach patriotism, nationalism and defence security to the Congress party and its leaders on the ground of just one air strike. Can Modi dismember Pakistan? Can he break Pakistan into two, and teach them a military lesson which Congress government did under Indira Gandhi when creating Bangladesh in 1971” thundered Azhagiri.

In fact, Congress governments defeated Pakistan in several wars quite easily to demonstrate several military lessons to Pakistan, Azhagiri said.

On the contrary, the BJP governments have been soft on terror like allowing terrorists to attack Parliament, the attack on Pathankot air base, and the latest Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir where the Central government is itself in charge of law and order and security, besides the defence forces. No one from the BJP government has owned responsibility for these failures time and time again, pointed out Azhagiri.

In fact, it was Modi who invited Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif to his swearing in and also held bilateral talks with him at that time, ignoring and bypassing the Indian government’s policy of not having direct talks with Pakistan in view of its support to terrorism. It was Modi who suddenly invited himself to lunch with Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan to wish him on his birthday despite Pakistan’s encouragement to terror, pointed out Azhagiri.

It was not the Congress party which was a friend of Pakistan but Modi and his BJP, Azhagiri said.

Azhagiri said Tamil Nadu, which has proved to be a decisive State in the national picture of government formation, will determine the formation of the next government at the Centre. The alliance led by Tamil Nadu will sweep the polls in the State as the people here are fed up with both the ruling parties, the BJP government at the Centre and the IADMK government in the State.

Right from 1991, the alliance or front which has failed in Tamil Nadu has failed to come to power at the Centre. Unfortunately, both the DMK and Congress contested on their own in 2014 Lok Sabha elections and failed to win seats. This time round, they have not only come together, the alliance has been expanded to include several more parties which are united on issues like the fight against fundamentalism and dictatorship of the BJP government, the damage to institutions like RBI, CAG, CBI etc., and commitment to secularism and support to weaker sections, besides social justice.

On the return of the Left Front to the DMK-Congress alliance after many years, Azhagiri said it was a welcome decision on the part of the Communist parties as there were many common grounds with the Congress, particularly on key issues relating to secularism, the need to fight the communalism of the BJP, and to work for the downtrodden and weaker sections.

March 16, 2019

By R. Rangaraj