NEW DELHI: Veteran Congress leader Raashid Alvi on Wednesday slammed his colleague P Chidambaram after he said that India decided not to retaliate against Pakistan after 26/11 Mumbai attacks due to pressure from the United States.Alvi questioned why Chidamabaram is making such a claim after 16 years and said that such remarks will only benefit the BJP.“Does this mean he was working under US pressure? Such a statement will only benefit the BJP. Why is Chidambaram making this claim after 16 years?” Alvi asked.
“If he disagreed at that time, he should have resigned. Many within the Congress want to weaken the party. It is like a house catching fire because of its own lamp,” he added.This comes a day after Chidambaram said that the idea of retaliation “did cross [his] mind”, but the government eventually decided against military action. He said this decision was influenced largely by the ministry of external affairs and senior diplomats.“The whole world descended upon Delhi to tell us ‘don’t start a war’. Condoleezza Rice, who was then US secretary of state, flew in two or three days after I took over… to say, ‘please don’t react’,” he said.Chidambaram, who took over as home minister just days after the attack, also acknowledged that he discussed possible retributive steps with the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other key figures. “The Prime Minister had discussed this even when the attack was going on… And the conclusion was, largely influenced by the ministry of external affairs and the IFS, that we should not physically react to the situation,” he recalled.The remarks have sparked a political row, with BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla questioning whether then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had overruled Chidambaram’s personal view in favour of retaliation.Reacting to Chidambaram’s statements, Union minister Pralhad Joshi posted on X, “After 17 years, Chidambaram, former home minister, admits what the nation knew – 26/11 was mishandled due to pressure from foreign powers. Too little, too late.”