Opposition calls for Vaidik's arrest, MHA says too early to jump the gun

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posted on 10 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Sources told CNN-IBN that the Indian Embassy in Pakistan was not aware of Vaidik's meeting with the 26/11 mastermind.

New Delhi: Ved Pratap Vaidik, journalist and a close aide of Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, did not inform the Indian Embassy in Pakistan about his "interview" with Jamat ud Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, said sources in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Sources told CNN-IBN that Vaidik's meeting with the 26/11 mastermind was not arranged officially.

The controversy rocked Parliament for the second day on Tuesday. Chaos prevailed in both the Houses as government and Opposition engaged in a war of words. Trying to take control of the situation, addressing Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said that the government had nothing to do with the meeting between the dreaded terrorist and Vaidik. "Neither before his Pakistan visit or after his interview with Hafiz Saeed, did he inform the government about it. Vaidik's visit was completely personal."

While the opposition parties led by Congress cornered the government and demanded Vaidik's arrest, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that it was too early to jump the gun.

Singh said, "I will gather all information on the matter and then brief the House."

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which is alleged to have links with Vaidik on Tuesday cleared that he was not a Sangh member. "Vaidik has no links with RSS. How can one who hangs out with Mani Shankay Aiyer and Salman Khurshid be an RSS man. He (Saeed) is a terrorist," said RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav.

BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy too refuted reports of Vaidik having any connections with the party. Party leader and Union Minister Venkaiah Naiduy added, "He (Vaidik) is enemy of the nation, He has never been authorized, we have nothing to do with that meeting."

While the Opposition including Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Janata Dal United, Left demanded the Ramdev aide's arrest, BJP ally Shiv Sena too demanded the government to take action against him if he spoke anything against India to Pakistan.

In an interview to Pakistan's Dawn News, Vaidik pitched for an independent Kashmir. He, however, later clarified that he was not in favour of secession.