The Vishva Hindu Parishad on Sunday targeted Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over the attack on Indian pilot Smit Machchhar on a flydubai flight, alleging that they had not praised him or condemned the incident.
The VHP also claimed the Congress had a history of not speaking out when extremists attacked Hindus.
Machchhar was injured after his Omani co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, attacked him in the cockpit of flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday. The aircraft, which had 174 people on board, was diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely.
VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said in a post on X, “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 also claimed that the Congress leaders did not condemn the incident because the pilot was a Hindu.
According to reports published by The Wall Street Journal and CNN, Al-Hammami attacked Machchhar and allegedly tried to take control of the flight.
Quoting people familiar with the matter, the reports said Al-Hammami had earlier been barred from flying in Oman over concerns about his radical views. He attacked Machchhar with a crash axe kept in the cockpit for emergencies, seriously injuring him.
The exact motive for the attack remains unclear.
Bansal claimed that the UAE had confirmed the flydubai incident was a “terrorist attack” and that the co-pilot used a cockpit crash axe to attack the Indian captain.
He said, “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 added, “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 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,” he said.
However, the Congress had on Friday praised Machchhar’s bravery. Its general secretary Jairam Ramesh said his “courage, quick thinking and resolute action will forever remain inspirational” and added, “The entire nation is in awe of what he did.”
On Thursday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had also praised Machchhar and wished him a swift and complete recovery. The remarks came after the mid-air attack on the Indian pilot and the safe diversion of the flight to Saudi Arabia.
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