Is it so difficult to be patriotic?: Salman Khushid's cryptic post on diplomatic mission abroad

Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who is a part of India's diplomatic mission abroad, on Monday said it is ''distressing'' that people back home are calculating political allegiances and asked if it is ''so difficult to be patriotic''.

Khurshid, a former external affairs minister, is part of a delegation led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha which is currently in Malaysia after visiting Indonesia, South Korea, Japan and Singapore to convey India's message against terrorism in the wake of April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor launched on May 7.

Taking to X and without naming anyone, the senior Congress leader said, ''When on mission against terrorism, to carry India's message to the world, it's distressing that people at home are calculating political allegiances. Is it so difficult to be patriotic?'' Khurshid's cryptic post comes after Congress MP Shashi Tharoor faced attacks from party leaders including Udit Raj who called him a ''super spokesperson of BJP'' for remarks which were perceived to favour the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. Tharoor is leading one of the seven delegations and is currently in Brazil.

Khurshid's remarks come a day after he said during an interaction with think tanks in Indonesia that Kashmir had ''major problems'' for a long time and the abrogation of Article 370 finally put an end to it. The remarks were welcomed by leaders from the ruling BJP and stirred controversy.

BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla, referring to Khurshid's remarks, slammed the Congress and other opposition parties, accusing them of overlooking national interest.

''After Shashi Tharoor, and Manish Tewari, yet another Congress leader has given a reality check and shown the mirror to Congress and INDI-alliance,'' Poonawalla said.

''Salman Khurshid has said when the all party delegation is on a mission to expose Pakistan putting India first, but some people are calculating the political allegiances. Is it so difficult to be patriotic? This is the resounding slap on those people's faces who are constantly doubting India's military might and India's diplomatic strike,'' he said.

He accused the Congress of keeping the interests of the ''parivar'', an apparent reference to the Gandhi family, above national interest.

''Congress, for the sake of petty political gains, puts party interest, parivaar interest above national interest. Hope they will realise that Salman Khurshid is not a super pravakta (spokesperson) of any party, he is putting nation first. But when will the Congress party put the nation first?'' he said.

In an apparent reference to Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, he said, ''LoP is busy in proving how Pakistan is powerful and won and how India lost''.

Poonawalla also referred to recent remarks by opposition leaders including Congress' Jairam Ramesh and Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut.

''We have seen how Jairam Ramesh said the terrorists are like MPs and MPs are like terrorists... We have seen how Operation Sindoor was called a failure by Sanjay Raut, we have seen how constantly India's Sena is being undermined by the likes of Rahul Gandhi,'' he said.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, while attacking the government with his claim that a special session of Parliament was being considered for June 25-26 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency reportedly remarked ''our MPs are roaming and terrorists are also roaming''.

In-charge of BJP's National Information and Technology Department Amit Malviya also attacked the Congress. Tagging Khurshid's post on X, he said, ''The sentiment expressed here is both tragic and deeply ironic. It reflects the cost of a warped idea of secularism that the Congress party has long championed, one that confuses the urgent need to confront terror with a compulsive instinct to appease.

''In doing so, they have not only diluted the moral clarity required to fight extremism, but have also compromised national security in the name of vote-bank politics.'' India has sent seven multi-party delegations to key partner countries, including members of the UN Security Council, to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism.

The delegations are being led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both BJP), Sanjay Kumar Jha (JDU), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (DMK) and Supriya Sule (NCP-SP), and are visiting 32 countries and the EU headquarters at Brussels in Belgium.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)