As Digvijaya Singh asks ‘who lives on’ Katchatheevu, BJP hits back

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi raking up the decades old Katchatheevu island issue twice during BJP poll rallies in Tamil Nadu, a war of words has erupted between the leaders of the Congress and those of the ruling BJP on the issue.

Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday (April 10) trashed the allegations against the party as baseless. “Let me say something. Who lives on that island? I want to ask this question," the septuagenarian leader shot back in a reply to a question asked by reporters in Chennai on Prime Minister Modi’s allegation that the Congress party deliberately gave away the island to Sri Lanka.

Persisting, when the reporters told him about PM Modi’s claim that every time Sri Lanka arrests Indian fishermen, his government has to secure their release, a nonchalant Singh said, “Modiji speaks nonsense, without any head or tail.”

His comments came after PM Modi on Wednesday (April 10) referred to the issue twice in Tamil Nadu, alleging both the DMK and the Congress to be “not only the culprits of the fishermen but also the culprits of the country”.

PM Modi leads charge

“For whose benefit was this decision taken? Congress is silent on this. Thousands of fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested for going near that island... NDA government is securing the release of such fishermen and bringing them back. Not only this, five fishermen were given death sentences but I brought them back alive. DMK and Congress are not only the culprits of the fishermen but also the culprits of the country," PM Modi said in one BJP rally.

When was Katchatheevu ceded to Lanka?

The decades-old territorial and fishing rights dispute around the Katchatheevu island has become a flashpoint ahead of the Lok Sabha elections with the BJP and the opposition engaged in slugfest over the issue. The island is located between Rameswaram in India and Sri Lanka. In 1974, the then central government headed by Mrs Indira Gandhi accepted Katchatheevu island as a Sri Lankan territory under the Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement.

Jumping on the bandwagon, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai took strong exception to Singh’s remarks on Katchatheevu and PM Modi and demanded an unconditional apology.

'Congress mindset'

In a post on X, Annamalai accused the Congress leaders of having "no guilt" for having compromised on India’s territorial integrity by ceding Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka and for putting the lives of Tamil Nadu fishermen at risk. The views expressed by the Congress leaders on the issue only displayed their mindset, he said.

“Not a Blade of grass grows there’ for Aksai Chin & ‘who lives there’ for Katchatheevu reflects Congress’ mindset," Annamalai said in a post on 'X', referring to the remark once made by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on Aksai Chin. Annamalai also posted a video of Singh criticising PM Modi for raising the Katchatheevu issue and demanded an unconditional apology. “Congress has to apologise unconditionally to our Tamil Fishermen for such insensitive statements & for the remarks made on our Hon PM Thiru @narendramodi avl, who has been a pillar of strength to our fishing community," BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Coimbatore wrote on X.

Nehru’s mindset still alive

Meanwhile, Kangana Ranaut joined her party colleague. Hitting back at the Congress, the BJP candidate from Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh wrote on X, “Nehruji's thinking of calling Aksai Chin a barren land is still alive in the Congress. Digvijaya ji’s statement on Katchatheevu shows that mindset."

Speaking highly of a New India, the actor-turned-politician further said, “There will be no compromise with the geographical integrity of the country, and the country will definitely give a reply to those who have such thinking."

(With agency inputs)