Mud-slinging continues: Congress posts clip of BJP minister referring to terrorist Hafiz Saeed as ‘Hafiz ji’

Hitting back at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, on Tuesday, the Congress shared a video of BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad referring to terror outfit JuD founder Hafiz Saeed as ‘ji’ – a Hindi honorific word. The tweet carried the hashtag #BJPLovesTerrorists, in retaliation to the BJP taking jibes at Congress president Rahul Gandhi for a similar utterance.

On Monday, Rahul had referred to terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad’s chief as “Masood Azhar ji” at a meeting of party workers.

He had said: “You might remember Masood Azhar. During the previous government of the 56-inch people, [present] National Security Advisor Ajit Doval went in an aircraft with Masood Azhar ji and handed him over in Kandahar.”

Gandhi was referring to the Kandahar plane hijack incident of December 24, 1999. The then ruling BJP government had to release Masood Azhar for the safe return of over 160 passengers. Now, Azhar’s group claimed responsibility for the February 14 attack on Central Reserve Police Forces, which claimed 40 lives.