Bharatiya Janata Party ally Shiv Sena has hit out at Ramdev aide Ved Pratap Vaidik for meeting 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed. Sena, in its political mouthpiece Saamana has accused Vaidik of sedition and being unpatriotic for meeting a terrorist.
Sena has urged the government to act against Vaidik, also rebuking the government for merely distancing itself from the entire issue. Sena has said that the government simply cannot dissociate itself from the incident and must not be soft on Vaidik.
"Just saying that the government has nothing to do with the meeting won't suffice. Had it been a Congress government and any journalist would have met Hafiz or Dawood Ibrahim, BJP would have attacked the government," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said.
"But today we are in power. So just saying that the government has nothing to do with this won't do. What is needed is to go to the bottom of the issue," the Sena said.
"There should not be any Hindu-Muslim discrimination as this is a matter of national security. If the journalist is let off, tomorrow anyone will go and enjoy biryani with Dawood, Tiger Memon and Saeed," the newspaper said.
"The Modi government has begun well. It should not face problem because of misadventure of an individual. It is good that the External Affairs Minister condemned the meeting in Parliament," the Sena said.
Meeting Saeed, the country's enemy, is "treason" and the government should take stern action against the journalist, it said.
"He should be treated in the same manner as Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab," said Sena leader Sanjay Raut.
The Narendra Modi government had on Tuesday denied any back channel talks following Vaidik's meeting with 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had said that the government disapproved of the meeting and there was no question of back channel talks with the Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief.
The Indian High Commission in its report said that it had no information about the meeting and that it was a personal meeting. This came after Sushma Swaraj sought a report over the issue. The alleged interview between Saeed and Vaidik has been labelled a track 2 meet, implying that it was a non-governmental, informal and unofficial meeting.
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