In the thick of controversy for allegedly compromising the Parliament’s security by filming security checks and posting them online, Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann today said that the panel, set up by the Lok Sabha Speaker to examine whether the video amounted to a breach of security, should also summon Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "inviting ISI" to the Pathankot airbase.
In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Mann said that the Prime Minister was "100 times more guilty" than him for "inviting ISI" to probe the January 2 terror attack on the airbase that had left seven security personnel dead.
"In 2001, ISI attacked the Parliament Complex. And in 2016, it launched an attack on the Pathankot airbase. The PM invited the same ISI and took them around the airbase. ISI made maps of the airbase and left," Mann alleged.
A five-member Joint Investigation Team from Pakistan had visited Pathankot in March to probe the attack carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group.
"Does this not threaten security of the country? Is my video a threat to the security of the nation or PM inviting ISI and taking them around the airbase is a bigger threat? Mann asked in the letter.
"The Committee should summon the PM along with me. If I am guilty, then the PM is 100 times more guilty than me," he alleged.
Meanwhile, the committee held its first meeting which was also attended by Delhi police commissioner Alok Kumar Verma. The committee said that the incident has exposed the whole security system of Parliament. The Police commissioner blamed Parliament security for the lapse.
The 5-member panel, set up by the Speaker after demands raised by MPs, had yesterday given the Sangrur MP time till July 28 to respond to the charge that his action had compromised security of the Parliament House complex even as it decided to seek the views of experts on the issue.
Mann has been advised by the Speaker not to attend monsoon session of parliament until the panel completes its probe and a decision on the matter is reached.
The panel, chaired by BJP member Kirit Somaiya, has been asked to submit its report by August 3. Apart from chairperson, the panel has two other BJP members -- Meenakshi Lekhi and Satyapal Singh. Others are Anandrao Adsul (Shiv Sena), B Mahtab (BJD), Ratna De (TMC), Thota Narasimham (TDP), K C Venugopal (Cong) and P Venugopal (AIADMK).
On July 21, the AAP MP had come under attack for doing a Facebook live where he recorded his journey from his home to Parliament, including the security checks.
In the video, Mann was even heard narrating the security procedures that Members of Parliament are subjected to while entering the Parliament building.
