TOP STORY/ 'Like Nehru Justified China Taking Away Aksai-Chin': Rijiju Tears Into Cong's Stance on Katchatheevu

New Delhi: Asserting that the mentality of the Congress Party is the same to this date, Union Minister of Earth Sciences and Food Processing Industries Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday tore into Congress leader Digvijay Singh's justification of Katchatheevu handover to Sri Lanka, saying, “Digvijay Ji justifies the Congress donating island to Sri Lanka just like Nehru had justified China taking away Aksai-Chin by saying: not a single blade of grass grows there”.

Rijiju's remarks come just hours after the Congress leader tried playing down Katchatheevu's significance while stressing that the island is “uninhabited”. 

Earlier during the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a rally in Vellore, had lambasted the Congress and the DMK for ceding Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka in 1974. Reacting to the prime minister's criticism, Digvijaya Singh had said, “Does anyone live there on that island? He [PM Modi] is talking nonsense.” 

Responding to allegations that Indian fishermen are facing problems because of the then Congress government's decision, Singh had said, “These are baseless talks without any substance.”

As the controversy around the Katchatheevu island continues to spiral, the Congress appears seemingly firm in its stance on the matter with the party supporting the decision made by the then Indira Gandhi government to give up control of the island to Sri Lanka. 

The Row Over Katchatheevu Island

As the Lok Sabha Elections draw closer, the decades-old territorial and fishing rights dispute around the Katchatheevu island is in the limelight with the BJP and the opposition engaged in a war of words over the issue. While the BJP is seeking an explanation from the DMK and the Congress about "ceding" Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka and "coming clean" on the issue, the Opposition leaders, on the other hand, have alleged that raising a "sensitive" issue like this ahead of elections shows the BJP's "desperation".

Earlier this month, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had claimed that the island was given to Sri Lanka as part of a “friendly agreement in 1974”, even as said, “Modi government too had undertaken a similar friendly gesture towards Bangladesh in exchange for border enclaves”. “Why did PM Modi not take steps to get Katchatheevu back during his 10-year rule?” Kharge had asked.

Last week, Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar, in an exclusive conversation with Republic TV's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, had also traded guns at the DMK and the Congress, as he asserted that the DMK was as much “party to the decision on  Katchatheevu”.

Stressing that it's “important for people to know” that the DMK hasn't been completely honest on the matter, Jaishankar told Republic, “Considering how much of an issue they made out of it, Chief Minister Stalin has himself written to me 21 times, raising the issues of Tamil Nadu fishermen… I think it was time that the public learnt: Who's responsible for it? who was culpable? Who did it and who went along with that?"

The minister further drew attention to the BJP-led government's stance on the issue, and underlined the measures taken by Modi government on the matter. “PM Modi has himself repeatedly taken up the fishermen's issue with successive presidents and prime ministers of Sri Lanka over the years”, the EAM had highlighted.

Several other union ministers including Nirmala Sitharaman and Anurag Thakur have also accused the Opposition [especially the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu] of spreading a false campaign on Katchatheevu, and for making "irresponsible" statements on the issue.

Last month, Sitharaman had said the then DMK president and TN Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was aware of the ruling Congress's move but “did not object”.

Katchatheevu Island: How Did the Controversy Erupt?

According to a report, which is based on an RTI reply obtained by Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai, the then Indira Gandhi government at the Centre in 1974 had handed over the 1.9 square km island located at Palk Strait, 20 km from Indian shore, to Sri Lanka. The island is located between Rameswaram in India and Sri Lanka.

In 1974, the Indira Gandhi-led government at the Centre had accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the "Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement."