AMN / WEB DESK
Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attack on the issue of Katchatheevu Island, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday reminded him of the Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh under which New Delhi transferred 111 enclaves to the neighbouring nation.
In a lengthy social media post on X, Kharge quoted the “meeting of hearts” statement Modi gave in 2015 after signing the agreement with Bangladesh and said that the 1974 agreement on Katchatheevu was a similar gesture of friendship.
“You have suddenly woken up to the issues of territorial integrity and national security in your 10th year of misrule. Perhaps, elections are the trigger. Your desperation is palpable,” he said.
“‘The Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh is not just about realignment of land, it is about a meeting of hearts.’ This is your own statement in 2015 lauding your own Govt’s realisation of Smt. Indira Gandhi’s initiative in 1974,” he added.
“Under your Govt, in a friendly gesture, 111 enclaves from India were transferred to Bangladesh, and 55 enclaves came to India. In 1974, a similar agreement, based on friendly gesture, was initiated with another country – Sri Lanka on Katchatheevu,” the Congress chief stated.
Kharge also highlighted the Centre’s submission in the Supreme Court in which Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi said, “Katchatheevu went to Sri Lanka by an agreement in 1974…How can it be taken back today? If you want Katchatheevu back, you will have to go to war to get it back.”
Kharge also slammed the prime minister for “giving clean chit to China” after 20 soldiers were killed in a battle with Chinese military personnel in Galwan valley.
“Gandhi ji, Pandit Nehru ji, Sardar Patel ji, Indira Gandhi ji, Rajiv Gandhi ji – all our beloved leaders lived and died for India’s unity, our territorial integrity…Sardar Patel ji played a vital role in uniting 600 princely states. In contrast, you, PM Modi, gave a CLEAN CHIT to China, after 20 bravehearts made supreme sacrifice in Galwan Valley,” the Congress leader said.
Taking a dig at PM Modi’s “startling” new revelation claim about the Katchatheevu Island, Kharge said: “What is not an “Eye opening and startling” is how you raised the belligerence levels of even otherwise friendly neighbours like Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives! It is first time in history, that Pakistan bought weapons from Russia, due to your foreign policy failure.”
He further said: “It was the Congress under the guidance of our leaders Smt. Indira Gandhi and Shri Rajiv Gandhi, who gave away their lives for successfully fighting violent secessionist forces and maintained the Unity and Integrity of the Nation by successfully keeping Punjab, Assam, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu and Nagaland among others, within the Indian Union. Merging Sikkim and Goa with India.”
Kharge continued, “It was the Congress, that despite severe constraints, kept the issue of Tibet’s sovereignty alive, only to be summarily squandered by a predecessor PM of your party. Stop this obsession with the Congress, and reflect on your own misdeeds, due to which India is suffering!”
The Congress president’s remarks came shortly after Prime Minister Modi hit out at the Congress for allegedly giving away the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka during the tenure of the Indira Gandhi government in 1974.
Citing a “startling” news report, Modi accused the grand old party of “weakening India’s unity and integrity” during its long years of rule.
“Eye opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away #Katchatheevu. This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people’s minds- we can’t ever trust Congress! Weakening India’s unity, integrity and interests has been Congress’ way of working for 75 years and counting,” PM Modi wrote in a social media post on X.
Later in the day, the prime minister repeated his Katchatheevu Island claim during a rally in Meerut to kickstart the BJP’s Lok Sabha polls campaign in Uttar Pradesh and accused the Congress party of “weakening India’s unity and integrity.”