“Biryani Diplomacy or National Security?” Pawan Khera Slams BJP Over Edited Image of Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress leader Pawan Khera on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its IT cell chief Amit Malviya, following the circulation of an edited photo of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. The image compared Gandhi to Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir and mockingly suggested he could be awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan, Pakistan’s highest civilian honour.

Speaking to a news agency, Khera denounced the BJP’s tactics and reminded the ruling party of its own past overtures to Pakistan. “As far as Nishan-e-Pakistan is concerned, their leader Morarji Desai was the only Indian politician who was awarded it for leaking RAW’s secrets. Nobody else got it,” Khera said, adding, “Some more people deserve Nishan-e-Pakistan, like Lal Krishna Advani, who called Jinnah a secular, and the person who went to eat biryani with Nawaz Sharif without being invited.”

Without directly naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress leader took aim at his unannounced visit to Pakistan in 2015 to attend Nawaz Sharif’s family wedding, calling it an unreciprocated gesture that raised national security questions.

Khera also targeted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, accusing him of pre-informing Pakistan before India’s strikes on terror camps. “These are the words of EAM S Jaishankar, who informed Pakistan that we are taking action only on terrorist hideouts… So now let’s see what award he gets from which country,” Khera added sarcastically.

Criticizing the BJP’s social media behavior, Khera said, “Do you expect a responsible political party, which is in power, to indulge in ‘cartoongiri’ during such a serious situation? When there was conflict, Congress and the opposition stood with the government. However, they [BJP] were still engaged in all such nonsense.”

He further questioned the government’s handling of intelligence and public communication around the attacks in Poonch, where civilians lost their lives. “You say that you informed Pakistan beforehand. But you didn’t inform the civilians in Poonch who were killed? Is this the reason why Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed could escape?” he asked.

Khera reiterated that while the Congress trusts the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), it has no confidence in the political leadership managing national security matters.

The controversy stems from BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya accusing Rahul Gandhi of “speaking Pakistan’s language” after Gandhi raised questions about alleged downed Indian jets—questions which Malviya claimed had already been addressed by DGMO Lt. Gen. Rajiv Ghai.