New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former home minister P Chidambaram over their comments on surgical strikes carried out by Special Forces of the Indian Army.
Addressing a press conference, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that in such matters the entire country and leaders across party lines are expected to speak in one voice, but Kejriwal`s comments were "unfortunate and painful".
The Union Law Minister said: "Kejriwal ji is demanding proof to negate the propaganda by the Pakistani media that no surgical strike took place, the government of India should give proof of it. I want to ask him whether he believes in the capabilities of the Indian Army or not."
"If he believes in the Army`s capability, then how could he be affected by the false propaganda of Pakistani media and ask for the proof?" Prasad said.
"Mr Kejriwal, you need to know, today you are the headline in Pakistani media. Politics is separate but please don't do or say anything whereby our armed forces feel let down," Prasad urged the Aam Aadmi Party leader.
The minister also attacked Chidambaram and demanded to know if the former Finance Minister`s comments were an official statement of the Congress party.
Chidambaram on Monday said it was up to the government to give proof of the surgical strikes conducted on September 28 night in which the Army destroyed seven terror launch pads in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
"We would like to ask Sonia Gandhi ji if that is the official position of the Congress party on this issue? If that is the case, then we would examine it and have some questions to ask from them," Prasad said.
"If it is not the official line, then our request to Sonia ji is to rein in the leaders of her party who always want to remain in the limelight," he added.
Prasad said that India has successfully isolated Pakistan "diplomatically, strategically and internationally".
"Today Pakistan stands completely isolated... This is a victory of our diplomacy. Lekin Kejriwal ji ye sab nahi dekhte hain aur sawal uthate hain (But Kejriwal does not see all this and raises questions)," Prasad said.
He said that leaders should refrain from making comments which could "demoralise" the Indian armed forces.
In the wake of Pakistan's attempts to cast doubts among the international media on last week's surgical strikes, Kejriwal had on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "expose the false propaganda" being spread by Islamabad on the issue.
The Congress had criticised Kejriwal for "publicising Pakistan's point of view" over the surgical strikes and said that whatever he does on the issue should be "well thought out".
In an around three-minute video message, Kejriwal mainly focused on Pakistan's claims that no surgical strike was ever conducted on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control and urged Modi to fight Pakistan's propaganda "just like we have been fighting Pakistan on ground".
Last week, India said it had launched surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads across the LoC in the wake of the Uri terror attack. Pakistan has said it was only a case of cross-border firing and has been running news reports casting doubts on the operations.
