New Delhi, October 4 (HS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has questioned the alleged silence of the Congress’s top leadership over the bravery of Indian pilot Captain Smit Machar. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said on Sunday that Captain Smit displayed exceptional courage aboard an aircraft and saved the lives of several people, but that not a single word, social media post or press statement had so far come from the Gandhi family in his honour.

Speaking to reporters at the BJP headquarters here, Sudhanshu Trivedi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken to Captain Smit, while the heads of state of Israel and the United States had also praised his bravery. In such a situation, he said, the Gandhi family’s silence raises questions. He asked why there had been no response from the Congress to Captain Smit’s act of courage.

He said reports had also appeared in the media about alleged support from Al-Qaeda for accused pilot Imam Al-Hamami. Despite this, he said, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi had not issued any statement regarding Captain Smit’s bravery. Referring to the Batla House encounter, he said that those who had shown sympathy towards the accused in that incident had displayed no sense of compassion towards Captain Smit.

Trivedi said Rahul Gandhi had repeatedly expressed his views on the Gaza issue through posts on X, resolutions of the Congress Working Committee and articles published in newspapers, but had not uttered a single word in the case of Captain Smit. He alleged that the Congress’s top leadership was maintaining silence on the issue under pressure from its purported vote bank. The entire country, he said, should take note of the conduct of the Congress’s highest leadership.

He said those who had described Zakir Naik as a messenger of peace, Afzal Guru as a victim of circumstances and Burhan Wani as a misguided youth, and those who had termed Yakub Memon’s execution a “judicial killing” and questioned the Batla House encounter, should explain why they were now silent on Captain Smit.

Trivedi described the issue as a clash between two ideologies, alleging that one ideology adopts a soft approach towards terrorism, while the other is prepared to risk lives for the security of the country and its people. Citing Captain Smit as an example, he said the pilot had put his own life at risk to save the lives of those aboard the aircraft.

The BJP MP also questioned the appointment of Imran Masood as working president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress. He said the Congress had made the appointment on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. He also referred to Masood’s alleged “boti-boti” remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign and questioned the Congress’s decision.

Sudhanshu Trivedi also targeted Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and raised questions over his election as party president. He asked why, in the alleged frustration caused by a series of electoral defeats, Kharge was adopting what he described as Rahul Gandhi’s “distorted mindset.”

He said that at the time of Kharge’s election as Congress president, several Congress leaders had demanded that the electoral college list be made public, but the party did not provide the list. On this basis, he questioned the validity of Kharge’s election. He further said that during the nomination process of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, other members of the family were present inside the nomination room, while reports had emerged that Kharge was not permitted to enter. Trivedi said that before talking about what was legal and illegal, the Congress should also introspect and look within itself.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar