P Chidambaram (ANI image)
NEW DELHI: Former home minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday slammed the Centre over its “discreet silence” on what he described as the growing threat of homegrown terrorism.His statement comes two days after the Delhi bomb blast near Lal Quila Metro station that killed 12 people and injured several others.In a post on X addressing the recent Delhi blast and the arrests of educated professionals allegedly involved in the plot, Chidambaram reiterated his long-held concern over the rise of “homegrown terrorism” in India.Chidambaram wrote: “I have maintained before and after the Pahalgam terror attack that there are two kinds of terrorists — foreign-trained infiltrated terrorists and home-grown terrorists. I said so in Parliament during the debate on Operation Sindoor. I was mocked and trolled for the reference to home-grown terrorists. However, I must say that the government observed a discreet silence because the government knows that there are home-grown terrorists too. The point of this tweet is we should ask ourselves what are the circumstances that turn Indian citizens — even educated persons — into terrorists.” His remarks come amid revelations that several suspects have been arrested in the Delhi blast case. This includes doctors Muzammil Ganaie, Adeel Ahmad Rather, Shaheen Shahid and Umar Un Nabi who were allegedly part of a Faridabad-based terror module linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Chidambaram’s earlier warning during Operation Sindoor debate
Chidambaram’s latest remarks mirror his warning in Parliament during the Operation Sindoor debate. The counter-terror operation was launched after the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.During the debate, Chidambaram had questioned the government’s handling of the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent operation. Raising concerns over the lack of transparency, he asked, “Where are the terrorist attackers? Why have you not apprehended them, or even identified them? A news item had emerged about the arrest of a few people who gave the attackers shelter. What happened to them?”He further questioned the government’s reluctance to disclose details of the probe. “The Government is unwilling to disclose what the NIA has done all these weeks. Have they identified the terrorists, where they came from? For all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists. Why do you assume that they came from Pakistan? There’s no evidence of that,” Chidambaram said.His statement had sparked a sharp backlash from the BJP benches, with Home Minister Amit Shah accusing the Congress leader of “trying to give a clean chit to Pakistan.”Union home minister went on to detail the evidence gathered by investigating agencies. “NIA had already arrested those who gave them shelter. Those who fed them were detained. When the terrorists’ dead bodies reached Srinagar, they were identified as the three people who carried out the terror attack in Pahalgam. The rifles seized from them matched the FSL reports,” Shah said.Following the backlash, Chidambaram defended himself, accusing critics of distorting his remarks. He wrote on X, “Trolls are of different kinds and use different tools to spread misinformation.”
