New Delhi, July 7 - The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Monday strongly condemned reports that YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, arrested on espionage charges, was invited by the Kerala government to promote tourism in the state.
“The Communist Party of India strongly condemns the BJP’s attempt to drag the Kerala government into the Jyoti Malhotra espionage case, which is being done to hide its serious failures on national security,” CPI MP P. Santosh Kumar said in a statement.
Kumar said it was absurd to suggest that a state government was responsible for a YouTuber’s visit to Pakistan, when passport issuance, visa clearance, and intelligence surveillance are all under the control of the central government. “Did the Kerala government approve his visits to Pakistan? Did it put him in touch with ISI handlers in Delhi? This is a disappointing and politically motivated diversion,” he asked. The MP said the BJP has an embarrassingly long list of its members involved in espionage and terrorism. “They have Dhruv Saxena from their IT cell in Bhopal, Balram Singh of Bajrang Dal, LeT terrorist Talib Shah who was appointed as the BJP Minority Front IT chief, and former BJP leader Tariq Mir who was arrested for supplying weapons to terrorists.
Even DSP Davinder Singh, who was awarded the President’s Medal, was caught providing security to Hizbul terrorists and was later linked to Pakistani handlers,” he said. This is the real national security record of the BJP,” Kumar said, adding, “Instead of taking responsibility, the BJP is now targeting Kerala over a routine tourism event that Malhotra once attended, even though he has no connection between that event and his ISI recruitment.” The reports cited an RTI reply which said that Malhotra was among those invited by the Kerala government for a state-run influencer collaboration programme.