New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI): The Vishva Hindu Parishad on Sunday hit out at Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for allegedly not praising Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who was attacked by his Omani co-pilot with a crash axe on board a Dubai-Tel Aviv flydubai flight with 174 people on board, claiming that it has historically refrained from condemning attacks by extremists on Hindus.
Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) national spokesperson Vinod Bansal also claimed that the Congress leaders did not condemn the incident because the pilot was a Hindu.
“It is now confirmed why the Congress and its top leaders like Rahul, Sonia and Priyanka did not praise the brave Indian Captain Smith Machchhar and why they did not even condemn the terrorist attack that took place at 33,000 feet in the UAE. Because they were all convinced that this was an attack carried out by an extremist on a Hindu pilot,” Bansal said in a post on X.
Machchhar was injured after being attacked by his Omani co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, in the cockpit of flydubai flight FZ1073 on Wednesday. The aircraft was later diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely.
According to reports published by The Wall Street Journal and CNN, Al-Hammami attacked Machchhar and allegedly attempted to take control of the flight.
Quoting people familiar with the matter, the reports said Al-Hammami was previously barred from flying in Oman over concerns about his radical views. He attacked Machchhar with a crash axe, which is kept in the cockpit for use in emergencies, seriously injuring him. The exact motive for the attack remains unclear.
Bansal claimed that the UAE has confirmed that the flydubai incident was a “terrorist attack” and that the co-pilot used a cockpit crash axe to attack the Indian captain.
“It has been the historical policy of the Congress and its allies that whenever an attack is carried out by an extremist on a Hindu or a non-Islamist individual, they have been unable to condemn the incident,” he claimed.
“They cannot utter even a single word of sympathy for such a victim or their family. Instead, they put all their efforts into defending the individuals or organisations accused of such heinous crimes against humanity,” he said.
Bansal also accused the Congress and its allies of inciting emotions, distorting facts and creating confusion to promote anarchy and separatism in the country.
“They aim to weaken the unity of the country, pit communities against each other, and serve their narrow political interests rather than the welfare of the nation,” he alleged.
Bansal cited the Congress’ “opposition” to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Uniform Civil Code, abrogation of Article 370, Waqf Act and the abolition of triple talaq as examples of what he described as the party’s approach.
“Indi (Alliance) should stand on India’s side at some point too,” Bansal said.
It may be recalled that the Congress on Friday hailed Machchhar’s bravery, with its general secretary Jairam Ramesh saying his “courage, quick thinking and resolute action will forever remain inspirational”.
“The entire nation is in awe of what he did,” Ramesh had said.
On Thursday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had also praised Machchhar and wished him a swift and complete recovery.
