Chidambaram’s ‘Home-Grown Terrorists’ Remark Sparks BJP-Congress Clash

• P Chidambaram’s ‘home-grown terrorists’ remark draws sharp response from BJP.
• BJP leaders accuse Congress of echoing “terror apologist” rhetoric.
• Congress had earlier questioned intelligence failure in Delhi blast.
• Debate intensifies over education, radicalisation, and domestic terror links.

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 13th Nov: A fierce political storm erupted on Thursday after Congress leader P Chidambaram referred to “home-grown terrorists” while commenting on the recent terror attack near Delhi’s Red Fort, which killed eight and injured around 20 people. His remarks drew an immediate backlash from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which accused the Congress of giving “soft support to terrorists.”

BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari slammed the Congress, saying, “The Congress is giving soft support to terrorists.” Senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “When terrorists get hurt, these people start screaming. I don’t know why they talk like spokespersons of terrorists.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Nalin Kohli of the BJP said, “Terrorists are terrorists. It does not matter what kind of classification the Congress leadership would like to give it. In the fight against terror there are only two sides — those who stand with terrorists and those who stand against them.”

Leaders from the BJP’s ally, Janata Dal (United), also criticised the Congress. Neeraj Kumar remarked, “A new language for terrorism? Foreign and home-grown terrorists? A terrorist is a terrorist.”

Chidambaram, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), had written, “I have maintained before and after the Pahalgam terror attack that there are two kinds of terrorists — foreign-trained infiltrated terrorists and home-grown terrorists. The government knows there are home-grown terrorists too. We should ask what circumstances turn Indian citizens — even educated persons — into terrorists.”

The remarks sparked a wider debate on radicalisation and education after it was revealed that three of the suspects were practising doctors, linked to Al-Falah University in Faridabad. Investigators are now probing the university’s founder Javed Ahmed Siddiqui for possible links to the accused.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma criticised the Congress leader’s stance, saying, “The Delhi blast has once again proved that some diseases cannot be cured by education. If they have bad intentions, they will make even more bombs if they are educated.”

Reiterating the BJP’s stand, Nalin Kohli added, “It does not matter which socioeconomic background they come from. These terrorists failed their country, their religion, and humanity.”

The row adds another layer to the already tense political discourse following the Faridabad terror module probe, as agencies continue tracing cross-border links through Bangladesh and Nepal and investigating the missing ammonium nitrate consignment connected to the Red Fort blast.