April 19, 2024 21:20 (IST)
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Vaidik-Saeed meeting is a diplomatic misadventure: Jaitley
New Delhi, July 15 (IBNS): With Parliament witnessing uproar over the meeting of journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik, who is a close associate of Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, with 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said it was a "diplomatice misadventure of a private individual."
"This is a diplomatic misadventure of a private individual. The Indian government has nothing to do with this person," Jaitley stated in the Rajya Sabha.
He said his proposition on a separate Kashmir speaks about Vaidik's distance from the party as the BJP was one party which was against it.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also categorically pointed out in the Lok Sabha that the Indian government did not aide in the meeting. She said her government had no knowledge about the meeting.
"He met on his own. To link him with the government or to call him the aide of BJP is wrong," Swaraj said.
This comes after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he is a "RSS man".
"The man is an RSS man. That is a known fact. We are curious to find out if Indian embassy facilitated this meeting and helped this gentleman in the meeting," Gandhi told reporters on Tuesday.
Congress MP and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor also said the meeting was not possible without the knowledge of the Indian government.
He also said that what kind of journalism he was doing as the picture posted by Vaidik showed him with no notebook or pen.
Even his interview was not published anywhere, Tharoor said.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is alleged to have links with Vaidik, also cleared that he was not a Sangh member.
"Vaidik has no links with RSS. How can one who hangs out with Mani Shankay Aiyer and Salman Khurshid be an RSS man. He is a terrorist," said RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav.
Even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has slammed Rahul over his statement.
"The BJP would like to state categorically that Vaidik is not associated to BJP, he is not associated to RSS or the government," a BJP leader said.
But Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) owes an explanation over it.
"Indian stand on Kashmir is not negotiable. The meeting of Vaidik with Saeed is anti nationalist. It would not have been possible without the knowledge of Indian embassy. The NDA owes an explanation for that," Moily said.
Vaidik has created a row not only with his meeting but by also proposing for an independent Kashmir.
In an interview to Pakistan's Dawn News, Vaidik pressed for more power to the region, adding that if Kashmiris in both India and Pakistan were ready, then Kashmir could be made an independent country.
"Kashmiris in India as well as Pakistan should be given more power. They should have their own Vidhan Sabha and leader as an independent entity," he said.
Vaidik, however did a partial U-turn after the interview saying that he favoured more independence for Kashmir but not secession.
"I have always been in favour of azadi (freedom) for the people Kashmir..Azadi yes and separation no. Kashmiri people should get the azadi same as the people of Delhi," the Ramdev aide told media.
This comes after Vaidik, who is a freelancer and a columnist, met with Saeed and went public with a social media photograph of the same. He met the Jamaat-ud-Dawa head responsible for the Mumbai attack of 2008 in Lahore on July 2, said reports.
Vaidik, who is close to the BJP camp, Baba Ramdev defended his meeting and said he met Saeed as a journalist and for a journalist no one is untouchable.
According to his Wikipedia profile, Ved Pratap Vaidik is a scholar, political analyst and free lancer columnist of India. It says he had been with Press Trust of India as the founder-editor of its Hindi news agency “Bhasha”. Before that he was the Editor (views) in Nav Bharat Times. At present, he is the Chairman of Bhartiya Bhasha Sammelan.
Baba Ramdev also defended Vaidik and said he met Saeed as a senior journalist and tried to change his heart.
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