Days after the NDA government claimed ignorance about the location of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, it faced criticism from its own ally Shiv Sena which today said the stand reflects poorly on the Home Ministry and nullifies all previous claims made by India on the issue.
"In a written statement (in Parliament), the government has admitted that it does not know the location of Dawood Ibrahim. By saying this, all the government's claims that he (Ibrahim) is plotting against India while sitting in Pakistan are nullified. It shows we are not being able to take him on," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
"The government should make its stand clear in Parliament. Is Dawood Ibrahim running the Pakistan government or are his links stronger than the Home Ministry, which is unable to do anything?" it said.
The government was left red faced earlier this week when Union Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said the location of India's most wanted terrorist was not known to the government. However, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju later clarified that the underworld don lives in Pakistan.
The Sena said that the United States did not seek Pakistan's permission when it mounted a daring operation to kill dreaded terrorist Osama Bin Laden, who was hiding in Abbottabad, in 2011.
"While everybody in Pakistan was sleeping, US commandos went to his house and shot him down. This is called courage. If we do not have courage, we should stop playing with Ibrahim's invisible ghost. This makes us a laughing stock among other countries," the Sena said.
Ibrahim is one of India's most wanted men for masterminding the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai in which over 250 people were killed.
