Sivaganga (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 1 (ANI): Congress leader Karti Chidambaram hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Katchatheevu island row, and said that the party has a very "unproductive" habit of fighting historical battles.
Hitting out at BJP further, he said that raking an over 50-year-old issue shows how "divorced" BJP is from the political reality in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Speaking to ANI, K Chidambaram said, "The BJP has a very unproductive habit of fighting historical battles. Their first grouse is against Babur. Their next quibble is against Aurangzeb. Then they will have a problem with the East India Company. Then, they will pick up the issue with Lord Cornwallis and Lord Macaulay...Queen Victoria."
"Then they will denigrate Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. They will constantly have a running battle with the Congress party," he added.
He further said that the Katchatheevu was settled between India and Sri Lanka over 50 years back and neighbouring nations do enter into 'give and take' pacts.
"The issue of Katchatheevu was settled between two sovereign nations over 50 years ago. Nations enter into pacts, there is a give and take particularly between neighbouring countries. Now to suddenly rake it up and to think that this is some sort of an issue on the ground in Tamil Nadu also clearly shows how divorced the BJP is from the reality of the political reality in Tamil Nadu," he added.
The decades-old territorial and fishing rights dispute around Katchatheevu Island is in the limelight ahead of polling in Tamil Nadu for Lok Sabha polls on April 19 with the BJP and the opposition engaged in a war of words over the issue.
PM Modi on Monday targeted Congress party and DMK over the Katchatheevu island issue. He said that Congress "callously" gave away the island. He also alleged the ruling party of Tamil Nadu did "nothing" to safeguard the state's interests.
"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 said in a post on X on Sunday referring to a media report.
"Rhetoric aside, DMK has done NOTHING to safeguard Tamil Nadu's interests. New details emerging on #Katchatheevu have UNMASKED the DMK's double standards totally. Congress and DMK are family units. They only care that their own sons and daughters rise. They don't care for anyone else. Their callousness on Katchatheevu has harmed the interests of our poor fishermen and fisherwomen in particular," PM Modi said in another post on Monday.
The media report is based on an RTI reply received by Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai to his queries on the 1974 agreement between India and Lanka when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister.
Doubling down on PM Modi's charge at Opposition over the Katchatheevu island row, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today alleged that India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru did not give importance to the island territory.
"This is an observation by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in May of 1961. He says, he writes, I attach no importance at all to this little island and I would have no hesitation in giving up our claim to it. I do not like matters like this pending. Indefinitely and being raised again and again in parliament. So to Pandit Nehru, this was a little island. It had no importance. He saw it as a nuisance," Jaishankar said at a press conference on Monday.
The island, located between Rameswaram in India and Sri Lanka, was traditionally used by both Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen.
In 1974, the then central government accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the "Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement." (ANI)
