Chidambaram's remark on Afzal Guru will have negative outcome on Kashmir: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said that that former union minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram's questioning the extent of Afzal Guru's role in the 2001 parliament attack would primarily encourage terrorist to get more active, and therefore, will have a very negative effect on Kashmir.

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"I am wondering what is the motivation? But the obvious implication of the statement is that it is a Congress Party statement. He would not make such a foolish statement unless he was asked to make the statement. And it is primarily to encourage all the terrorist to get active. This will have a very negative effect on Kashmir," Subramanian Swamy told ANI here.

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Swamy asks as to why did Chidambaram waited all these years to open his mouth and must give an explanation in this regard.

"He was the minister in the previous government when Afzal Guru was hanged. He has waited all these years, 2 years to open his mouth on it. He did not open his mouth when the government decided that the body will not be handed over to the family," he added.

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The BJP leader also said that the Government of India must register the case under 124-A, sedition against him.

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"This is anti national statement and therefore so he must be persecuted," he added.

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Swamy however alleged that the Congress party is under the pressure from radical Muslims that they will not give the party votes if the party will not support them.

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"The congress party moral authority has completely collapsed in the country. They are now looked upon as a party which is complicit to some foreign powers," he added.

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Chidambaram earlier told a leading English daily in an interview that he felt it was possible to hold an 'honest opinion' that the case was 'perhaps not correctly decided' and that there were 'grave doubts about the extent of his involvement' in the 2001 Parliament attack.

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"I think it is possible to hold an honest opinion that the Afzal Guru case was perhaps not correctly decided," said Chidambaram, who was the country's Home Minister from 2008 to 2012, before being switched to the Finance Ministry.