By IANS
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday described the Tehelka news magazine’s undercover investigative report on the 2002 communal violence in Gujarat as a “political stunt”, even as the Congress expressed concern over its timing ahead of state assembly polls.
“It is a political stunt on the eve of elections,” BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said.
“This is a collusive sting at the behest of the Congress and the dissidents (in Gujarat BJP) and collusive sting cannot be regarded as investigative journalism,” he said.
“Tehelka will be recognized as the CIA – which stands for ‘Congress Investigative Agency’,” he added.
Gujarat’s opposition Congress, however, said there was nothing new in the newsmagazine’s investigation.
“It’s an old story, but it is still shocking to hear it from the individuals (who were involved in the violence),” said B.K. Hariprasad, Congress general secretary and in charge of the party affairs in the state.
He questioned the timing, saying the revelations could polarise the Hindus and Muslims ahead of the Dec 11 and Dec 16 polls.
Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal at a press conference here Thursday evening showed footage prepared by an undercover reporter in which several Hindu activists allege that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had sanctioned the violence that killed more than 1,000 people.