Smriti Irani calls Navjot Sidhu India's 'Jaichand' over his comment on Pulwama attack

Varanasi: Union Minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday hit out at Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, calling him modern India's Jaichand for "defending" Pakistan after the Pulwama attack.

"Such people will be taught a lesson by the people" she added.

Jaichand had betrayed Prithviraj Chauhan in a battle against Muhammad Ghori in the year 1192.

"Those who call Pakistan PM their friend and try to defend Pakistan by claiming it had no role in the Pulwama attack are modern India's Jaichands," she said while replying to questions on Sidhu but didn't take his name.

Following the car bomb attack carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14 that had killed forty CRPF personnel, the cricketer-turned-politician had said that an entire nation could not be blamed for the actions of "a handful of people".

Condemning the attack, Sidhu, who was among the invitees for the swearing-in ceremony of Imran Khan as Pakistan prime minister last year, however, had asked, "For a handful of people, can you blame the entire nation and can you blame an individual?"

On whether cricket matches should be played with Pakistan, she said, "Being an Indian I think that each Pakistani with ill intentions should be taught a lesson... at a time when our country wants justice for the martyred families, there is no relevance of this question of playing with Pakistan."

However, she added, it was her personal view and any decision in this regard will be taken by the sports ministry.

The Union Minister also criticised Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for seeking "actionable intelligence" in Pulwama attack, saying before asking for evidence, he must answer what Pakistan had done after getting evidence of 26/11 Mumbai attack masterminded by Hafiz Saeed.

"What action did Pakistan take against him?" she asked.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday said he would act against the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack if India shares "actionable intelligence" with Islamabad.

She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a free hand to the Indian army to deal sternly with terrorists and "we have full faith in our jawans who will avenge at an appropriate time."

She was in Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to seek suggestions for the party's ''Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat'' programme in which she held interaction with people to include their views in the BJP manifesto.