Kerala Congress MP Rajmohan Unnithan has stirred the hornet’s nest with an explosive statement at a pro-Palestine rally in Kasargod, which is his parliamentary constituency. He suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be “shot and killed… in Nuremberg-style trial” for alleged war crimes in his country’s offensive against the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip.
“After the Second World War, there was something called Nuremberg trials for those engaging in war crimes. Nuremberg trials mean they will be shot dead without a trial. It’s high time a Nuremberg model trial was carried out. Benjamin Netanyahu is standing before the world as a war criminal. It’s high time to shoot and kill Netanyahu without a trial because that’s the level of cruelty he is doing there,” Unnithan said during the rally.
This has triggered a political row with the BJP slamming the Congress for taking such a stand and showing India in a poor light. “Such statements by the Member of Parliament, show the country in a poor light. I don’t know what is the stand of the Congress party on such statements by their MP. Member of Parliament is a very responsible position, which is taken note of by the international community. When a Member of Parliament makes such a statement, it’s a shame to the Indian parliament and parliamentary democracy…” said union minister V Muraleedharan.
Unnithan’s statement came amid an intense ground offensive in Gaza with Israeli forces storming the Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest in the coastal city. The rally was organised by the Kasaragod United Muslim Jamaath on November 17.
Kerala BJP president K Surendran hit out at Unnithan’s views. “Where is the @INCIndia heading to? Senior Congress leader and Kasargod MP Rajmohan Unnithan called for the murder of Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu without any trial at a pro-Hamas rally organized in Kasargod. Mr Unnithan even said that ‘now, I am ashamed to have been born in India.’ Only Congress leaders can stoop so low. For him and his leader @RahulGandhi Hamas is a peaceful resistance movement,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.