Kohinoor: Digvijaya criticises BJP for Centre's stand in SC

Guna (MP), April 19: Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday, April 19 criticised the BJP-led NDA government for its stand in the Supreme Court on the issue of bringing back the Kohinoor diamond from Britain.

During the hearing of a PIL in the apex court, the Ministry of Culture has said Kohinoor cannot be said to be forcibly taken or stolen as it was given by the successors of Maharaja Ranjit Singh to East India Company in 1849 as compensation for helping them in the Sikh wars.

"BJP (when in opposition) used to allege that Congress was not bringing back the Kohinoor. But now it is giving in writing in the Supreme Court that it was gifted and not taken away," Singh said, speaking to reporters at Raghogarh near here. On alleged polarisation of Kashmiri students by BJP, the Congress leader said, "This type of thinking is not in the interest of the country.

"It is a matter of concern for the country and is aimed at its destruction. BJP should restrain from engaging in such a policy in Kashmir as it may prove dangerous for the country." On the issue of removal of elected government (recently in Uttarakhand), Singh termed it "unconstitutional and a step towards weakening of democracy."

On the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, Singh said, "It appears that to save himself from the law, BJP president Amit Shah is hell-bent on declaring her (Ishrat) a terrorist." On the reported incident of a journalist being attacked by sand mafia in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh, Singh said it was being done to create an atmosphere of terror.

The culprits were not yet arrested though they were named in the FIR. Singh also said that he will visit Hoshangabad today to "expose the terror of sand mafia" there. Ministers in the Madhya Pradesh Government were involved in the illegal mining of sand, he alleged.

PTI