chidambaram-hits-back-at-pm-modi-over-26-11-remarks

Senior Congress leader and former Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks regarding the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, calling the Prime Minister's assertions a figment of imagination.

 

Chidambaram took to Twitter, saying, "It is disappointing to read that the Hon'ble prime minister of India imagined the words and attributed them to me."

 

The response comes after PM Modi criticised Chidambaram over an interview in which the former Home Minister admitted that India did not retaliate against Pakistan following the 26/11 attacks due to international pressure.

 

Citing a media report quoting PM Modi, Chidambaram stated that all assertions made by the Prime Minister were "terribly wrong." He added, "The statement has three parts, and each one of them is WRONG, terribly WRONG."

 

The controversy arose last week after Chidambaram revealed in a podcast that he had initially considered retaliating against Pakistan following the 2008 Mumbai attacks. However, he said he was eventually persuaded against it.

 

Also Read : Modi asks Congress: Who stopped 26/11 military retaliation?

 

In the podcast, Chidambaram said, "The whole world descended upon Delhi to tell us 'don't start a war'. Condoleeza Rice, who was then US Secretary of State, flew in two or three days after I took over, to meet me and the Prime Minister, and to say, 'please don't react'. I said this is a decision that the government will take. Without disclosing any official secret, it did cross my mind that we should do some act of retribution."

 

Following his admission, several BJP leaders, including PM Modi, criticised Chidambaram and the then-UPA government, questioning why India had yielded to international pressure at the time.

 

"The then Congress government gave a message of weakness. Recently, a senior Congress leader and former Home Minister revealed that after the (26/11) Mumbai attacks, our security forces were ready to attack Pakistan, but due to pressure from another country, the Congress government at the time stopped our security force," PM Modi said while inaugurating the Navi Mumbai International Airport on Thursday.