New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Congress MP Tariq Anwar on Wednesday praised reports of the killing of Hamza Burhan, one of the key planners behind the Pulwama terror attack last year, by unknown gunmen in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

The incident took place at Muzaffarabad in PoK, and Burhan is said to have been shot multiple times.

Speaking to IANS, Anwar said: “Terrorism should be eliminated. This is good news for us because terrorists are being killed in Pakistan which provides a safe haven for terrorism.”

While designating him as a terrorist in 2022, the Indian government had said, “Arjumand Gulzar Dar alias Hamza Burhan alias Doctor, aged 23 years, is a resident of Kharbatpora, Ratnipora, Pulwama, and one of the associate members of Al Badr, a terrorist outfit designated under the UAPA.”

Meanwhile, Tariq Anwar defended Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s “traitor” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

He said: “Rahul Gandhi has put the reality forward. Traitor means one who does not work towards the welfare of the country.”

Reiterating Rahul Gandhi’s stance, he said: “On one hand he (PM Modi) is appealing to citizens not to travel abroad and save gold, on the other he himself is touring across countries. Obviously, people will have a problem with it.”

The Congress leader also responded to questions about the viral satirical outfit Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) whose X account has been withheld in India.

The digital-only political satire movement emerged after a controversy erupted following Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s controversial remarks during a court hearing on May 15 in which he allegedly referred to unemployed youth as cockroaches.

Reacting on the same, Tariq Anwar said that this reflects the dissatisfaction among the youths of the country, regarding unemployment, inflation etc.

According to the Congress MP, the Cockroach Janata Party points towards the “spoiled atmosphere” in the country resulting from the “wrong policies” of the BJP-led government.

Notably, the CJP has crossed 14 million followers on social media platform Instagram, surpassing the followers of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

Separately, Congress MP Tariq Anwar extended his support to the West Bengal government’s decision to hand over land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for fencing of the border areas.

The Bengal government’s process of handing over land to the BSF for erecting fencing along unfenced borders with neighbouring Bangladesh began on Wednesday.

Around 27 kilometres of land was officially handed over to the BSF, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari told media persons at the state secretariat.

–IANS

cg/rad