Scribe meeting Saeed: Congress accuses government of cover-up

Congress on Wednesday accused the government of a “massive cover-up” on the issue of journalist Ved Prakash Vaidik meeting terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan.

However, the government rejected the charge, saying it has nothing to do with it.

Attacking the government, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath said, “It is very clear that the government is involved in the meeting between journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik and Saeed.”

He added, “Indian High Commission knew about his visit. Our intelligence agencies must have been keeping track of the activities of Vaidik. It was definitely known...now it is massive cover-up by the government since they have been caught on a wrong foot,” Nath said.

Rejecting the charge, Minister of State Jitendra Singh said all the representatives of the government have already made it very clear that Vaidik was not a representative or messenger of the government. “The government has nothing to do with this entire episode,” he said.

The issue had stalled Parliament on Tuesday. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had told Rajya Sabha that the government has nothing to do with either the visit or the meting between Vaidik and Saeed. “t is a diplomatic isadventure of a private individual,”he had said.

In Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had said that government has nothing to do with a journalist meeting Saeed. “Allegation that the government facilitated the journalist’s meeting with Saeed is false and baseless,” Swaraj had said.

Image: Angry activists burn the effigy of journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik, denouncing his meeting with Hafiz Saeed. Photograph: PTI photo