"'Aatanki bachao gang' is back at work again": BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla slams Mehbooba Mufti remarks on Delhi blasts

New Delhi [India], November 17 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Monday criticised People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti for her remarks on the November 10 Red Fort car blast in Delhi, accusing her and other Opposition leaders of "normalising and rationalising terrorism" for political gains.
This comes after Mehbooba Mufti attacked the Central Government and alleged that the November 10 Red Fort blast case in the national capital reflects a deepening sense of insecurity across the country and a failure of the Centre's policies in JK.
Responding to her statements, Poonawalla claimed that Mufti's comments were part of a recurring "pattern" within what he described as an "appeasement ecosystem," citing similar positions previously taken by leaders like P Chidambaram and Abu Azmi.
"In the name of vote bank, the 'aatanki bachao gang' is back at work again. This is the same Mehbooba Mufti who had called Burhan Wani and other terrorists innocent. This ecosystem keeps saying such things repeatedly," he told ANI.
He further said that such statements undermine national security efforts and send a dangerous message to the country.
"Their job is to rationalise terrorism in the name of appeasement, legitimise it, bring it into the mainstream, and justify it. Mehbooba Mufti is not the only one guilty of this. P. Chidambaram said that people become terrorists due to circumstances... Abu Azmi said these are innocent people. These people place vote bank policy above national policy," he added.
On November 10, twelve people lost their lives and several others were injured in a Red Fort blast in the National Capital.
While addressing a Working Group Meeting in Srinagar on November 16, the PDP chief said, "You (Central government) told the world that everything is alright in Kashmir, but the troubles of Kashmir echoed right in front of the Red Fort."
"You promised to make J&K safe, but instead of fulfilling that promise, your policies have made Delhi unsafe. I don't know how many people in the Central Government are true nationalists... If a well-educated youth, a doctor, kills himself and others by strapping RDX to his body, it means there is no safety in the nation. You may get votes by doing Hindu-Muslim politics, but in which direction is the nation heading?"
She further criticised the Central Government for allegedly prioritising divisive politics over national security. "You may get votes by doing Hindu-Muslim politics, but in which direction is the nation heading?" she asked.
Meanwhile, a Special NIA court on Monday granted 10 days' custody of Amir Rashid Ali to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for interrogation in the Delhi Blast Case.
The accused, a Kashmiri resident, was arrested on Sunday for conspiring with the suicide bomber who carried out the terror attack that claimed 10 lives and injured 32 others, the NIA had earlier stated.