'Obnoxious statement': Kapil Sibal lashes out at RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale over Pakistan remarks

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Friday hit out at recent remarks by RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale that India's doors for dialogue with Pakistan 'should not be closed', calling it an 'obnoxious statement'.

Addressing a press conference, Sibal said that if he had made similar remarks, he would have immediately been labelled 'anti-national' or 'pro-Pakistan'.

"What is most obnoxious about this statement is that he calls the attack on Parliament, the 26/11 attack, the Pahalgam attack, as pinpricks. Our sovereignty is attacked and according to the RSS, it is only a pinprick," Sibal said.

"The government functions on his directives. Pakistan has said it is a positive development. So, Mr Hosabale is being equated with India. Who is Hosabale? What kind of politics is this?" he asked.

Sibal also said there was 'nothing wrong' in advocating dialogue with Pakistan, but questioned the political response to such statements depending on who makes them.

"If I had said this, I would have been called anti-national or pro-Pakistan. If Mr Hosabale says it then it is right," he said.

The remarks came days after Hosabale, the second-highest leader in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh after chief Mohan Bhagwat, said India should keep a 'window' open for dialogue with Pakistan despite continued tensions and terror attacks.

In an interview with PTI Videos earlier this week, Hosabale described Pakistan as a 'pinprick' attempting to create incidents such as Pulwama and Pahalgam, but maintained that diplomatic relations, trade and people-to-people engagement should continue.

"We should always be ready to engage them in a dialogue," Hosabale had said, while arguing that civil society contacts could help reduce tensions between the two countries.

The RSS leader also called on sportspersons, scientists and civil society groups in Pakistan to step forward for peace, saying the neighbouring country's military leadership 'cannot be trusted'.