BJP today hit back at Congress for asking the government to "come clean" on Pakistani boat issue and accused the opposition party of advocating the cause of terrorists and being soft on terror due to its "vote-bank politics".
"There is nothing new in the Congress speaking the language of terrorists. Congress has a history of advocating the cause of terrorists, be it those creating terror within the country or emanating from Pakistan. Congress is soft on terror due to its vote-bank politics," BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
He said soon after coming to power in 2004 one of the first actions of the Congress government was to abolish the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and later tried to divert the attention of people of the country from terror on incidents like the Bhatla House encounter, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the Bodhgaya and Patna bomb blasts.
"Congress tried to divert the attention from terror by making wild allegations against BJP without any evidence that also led to lowering the morale of the armed forces," he said.
Sharma said things have changed under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the morale of armed forces is high as they act on their own while dealing with terror activities instead of awaiting directions from the Centre.
Congress today asked the government to "come clean" on the Pakistani boat issue and explain "which terrorist organisation" was behind the episode that unfolded on the high seas.
"Government should come clean on it. There is no evidence ... How can you say that a terrorist attack was prevented?
"How did they (government) come to the conclusion that it was a terrorist boat? It is very strange. Nothing has been explained. Which terrorist organisation was behind it?" Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said.
In a midnight operation off the coast of Gujarat, a Pakistani fishing boat said to be carrying explosives was intercepted by the Indian Coast Guard before it exploded and caught fire and sunk with four crew members on board.
The incident, which occurred on the intervening night of Dec. 31, 2014, and Jan. 1 some 365-km off the Porbander coast, is being regarded in some quarters as being reminiscent of the 2008 Mumbai terror strike.
However, there has been no official confirmation of that conjecture with the Defence Ministry merely stating that the boat from Keti Bunder near Karachi "was planning some illicit transaction" in the Arabian Sea.
