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Chidambaram Coins Catchphrase on Kashmir–‘Post-Truth India’

P. Chidambaram. — File photo

“All leaders are under house arrest. If you question the government, they will tell the Court that no one is under house arrest.”

Syed Ali Mujtaba | Clarion India

CONGRESS leader and former Union Finance Minister under the Manmohan Singh government P. Chidambaram has coined a new term ‘Post-Truth India’ to describe the new style of democracy that is the hallmark of governance under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule.

According to the Congress leader, who hails from Tamil Nadu and who was  sent to jail on allegations of financial ill-regularities but could not be indicted, said that in the post-truth India, the BJP has visualised a new version of ‘democracy’ that is anti-people and has tarnished the democratic track record of the country.

Unveiling the features of his terminology, ‘post-truth India’, the former Minister said; “Some 7.5 million Kashmiris are living in a virtual prison for the past one year, and this is being done in the largest democracy of the world.”

“The world is watching with shock the brazen denial of human rights in India,” Chidambaram said, urging the countrymen to raise their collective voice against the diminishing profile of democracy under the BJP rule.

In a series of tweets made recently, the Congress leader appealed to all political parties and right-thinking citizens to spare some thought for the ‘post-truth India’, where 7.5 million Kashmiris are living in the virtual prison for the last one year.

In the new ‘democracy’ visualised by the BJP, Chidrambram said, “Dr Farooq Abdullah was not allowed to hold a pre-announced meeting with leaders of other democratic parties.”

Dwelling further on his ‘post-truth India’ catchphrase, he said, what is ‘illegal’ in the courts, is legal under the BJP rule.  The ex-Minister cited the example of house arrests of the Kashmiri leaders.

 “All leaders are under house arrest. If you question the government, it will tell the court that no one is under house arrest. This is post-truth India!

“House arrest is a completely illegal instrument that has no legal sanction under the Code of Criminal Procedure. It is an abuse of power but the fact remains that most political leaders in Kashmir are under house arrest.”

Chidambaram demanded release of all those who are placed under house arrest in Kashmir, especially former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Congress leader Saifuddin Soz and others who continue to be in detention.

The former minister had spent 106 days in Delhi’s Tihar jail in the INX Media case. The Supreme Court granted him bail because the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate could not frame a single charge against him.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had come on camera to record his statement showing his happiness about the arrest of the former minister. “Law is doing its duty and no one is above the law,” PM Modi had said on Chidambaram’s arrest.

The late Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, who was then ailing in Singapore hospital, had come on camera to say “the white- dressed person (P Chidambaram) is the most corrupt man in the country.”

The Enforcement Directorate had filed a money-laundering case against Chidambaram’s son Karti in May 2017 related to INX Media financial irregularities.

 The case pertains to the foreign direct investment clearance granted to INX Media by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board in 2007 when Chidambaram was the Finance Minister.

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