New Delhi: Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responded on Sunday to a public demand from AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should bring back the masterminds of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks from Pakistan — drawing a parallel with the US military’s operation against Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
BJP Parliamentarian Ghulam Ali Khatana said India, under the Narendra Modi–led government, has consistently responded to terrorism by “targeting terrorists, not countries.” He added that India is a responsible nation and the world’s largest democracy, and seeks to maintain cordial relations with all neighbours irrespective of size. According to him, India does not fall for provoc
ation.
Bihar minister Dilip Jaiswal also mocked Owaisi’s remarks, calling him prone to sensational statements and even joked that perhaps US President Trump might take Owaisi’s advice seriously.
Owaisi’s remarks and the Venezuela operation
At a rally on Saturday, Asaduddin Owaisi invoked the US military’s raid in Venezuela — which saw President Nicolás Maduro and his wife captured and flown to New York — to challenge PM Modi’s approach to terrorism. He said: if the US can bring Maduro to its own territory, then India could similarly go into Pakistan to bring back those responsible for the 2008 26/11 attacks, including Masood Azhar and other Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives.
Owaisi framed his remarks as a pointed challenge to demonstrate leadership and decisiveness in dealing with terrorist masterminds said to be in Pakistan.
The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks occurred from November 26 to 29, 2008, when 10 terrorists linked to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out coordinated shootings and bombing attacks across the city. At least 170 people were killed and hundreds injured in one of the deadliest terror incidents in India