On 25 April, former Home Minister P Chidambaram took to Twitter to highlight the fact that the affidavit controversy related to the Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case was an attempt by the Modi government to divert attention from the real issue.
In a series of eleven tweets, he attempted to break down some of the essential questions that were raised in connection to his involvement in the filing of the two affidavits in the Ishrat Jahan case.
1. The Govt is intolerant to the slightest criticism. A junior Minister was asked to snub the Governor of the Reserve Bank. For what?
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 25, 2016
2. For quoting an ancient proverb to highlight the fact that instead of getting euphoric, we should b level headed & look at unfinished task
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 25, 2016
3. That was the thrust of Dr. Rajan's remarks. But they are finding fault with his choice of words? And delivering a snub to him in Public!
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 25, 2016
4. I think far from diminishing the stature of Dr.RaghuramRajan, Govt has exposed its inability to tolerate even slightest criticism.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 25, 2016
5. In my view, Dr.Rajan was not criticising or disparaging the growth. He was only highlighting the unfinished work!
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 25, 2016
6. The affidavit controversy is only to divert attention from the real issue in the Ishrat Jahan case.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 25, 2016
7. Real issue is whether there was fake encounter & whether FOUR people already in custody were KILLED in that FAKE ENCOUNTER.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 25, 2016
8. Coming to the affidavits, the Home Minister does not sign affidavits. It is signed by an Under Secretary.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 25, 2016
9. Although I have no recollection of seeing the first affidavit, let us presume that I did. Then came the report of Magistrate SP Tamang.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 25, 2016
10. This report caused an uproar & there was demand mainly from Gujarat that Government of India... (Contd)
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 25, 2016
11. (Contd) should clarify or dispel misinterpretation being placed on the First affidavit. This is why a Second, short affidavit was filed!
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 25, 2016
Earlier, the BJP questioned the Congress' silence over reports claiming that Chidambaram had signed the first affidavit in the Ishrat case and accused the grand old party of hatching a conspiracy against the people of India with a political agenda.
Media reports revealed that Chidambaram had in fact signed the first affidavit, which declared Ishrat and three others as terrorists, but gave all four a clean chit a month later as serious amendments were made in the second affidavit also signed by him.
The first affidavit in the encounter case stated that Ishrat was a LeT operative, who was part of a plot to assassinate the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
Chidambaram had initially claimed that the first affidavit declaring Ishrat and three others as terrorists was filed in the court without his approval, adding that he had made some editorial changes to avoid misinterpretation when the matter was brought to his notice.
Chidambaram, however, completely altered his stance in the second affidavit, saying that intelligence inputs on Ishrat and the three others did not constitute conclusive proof and favoured a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in the encounter.
--ANI