New Delhi: A Delhi based journalist tweeted that, "Ved Pratap Vaidik finally got what he always wanted, tons of cheap publicity." Ved Pratap Vaidik, a retired journalist and a close aide of yoga guru Ramdev is now basking in the reflected glory. Vaidik, a Hindi journalist, was unknown outside the journalistic circles of Delhi till 2011. His close association with Ramdev made him popular during the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement. Vaidik did the job of defending Ramdev on almost every TV channel and became a known face on TV.
The Congress alleges that he is close to the RSS and the Sangh backed Vivekananda Foundation, a Delhi based think tank. Vaidik dismisses these claims saying that he has never been a part of the Vivekananda Foundation.
His infamous meeting with Hafiz Saeed, the 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind and the chief of a banned terrorist organisation, the JUD, is now causing a huge embarrassment for both the Narendra Modi government and the RSS. Vaidik, who is under fire for his meeting with the 'butcher of Mumbai', is now trying to create an impression that he met him in personal capacity as a journalist and he was not representing the government or the RSS.
But the fact is that he is no longer an active journalist and known as Ramdev's close aide and chief spokesperson. Such a person meeting one of the most dreaded terrorist leaders Hafiz Saeed at his own den in Lahore has raised several questions over the real motives behind the meeting.
According to some experts, Hafiz Saeed is a 'national asset' of Pakistan and being guarded by its spy agency ISI. Nobody can meet him without its knowledge and permission. In the past, a lot of journalists from India tried to meet him. But, none of them succeeded in their mission.
Hafiz Saeed meeting a retired journalist like Ved Pratap Vaidik who is not even well known within India is leading to suspicion. Some argue that he was sent to Pakistan by the Government of India to establish contacts with Hafiz Saeed as a part of track - two diplomacy.
Union Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley is trying to distance the Vaidik-Saeed meeting from the government. During a debate in Parliament, he said, "The government has nothing to do with it. Vaidik is an independent journalist and he is free to meet anybody."
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also said that the Indian embassy in Islamabad had no prior knowledge of Vaidik's meeting with Hafiz Saeed. Vaidik's controversial remarks on freedom for Kashmir have also stirred up hornet's nest. Even the vice president of the Congress and MP Rahul Gandhi has attacked Vaidik calling him an RSS man.
According to old timers in the journalistic circles of Delhi, he was the opinion editor of Hindi daily 'Nav Bharat Times' and later worked for PTI Bhasha, the Hindi news service of Press Trust of India.
Some of his recent remarks in defence of his meeting with Hafiz Saeed throw some light on his personality. Speaking to CNN-IBN he said "When PV Narasimharao was the Prime Minister, the Congress leaders used to call me the deputy Prime Minister and de-facto foreign affairs minister". Defending his meeting with Saeed, he even said that he had interviewed everybody including the LTTE chief V Prabhakaran, a claim which is yet to be verified and confirmed. Vaidik also claims that he is a famous person in Pakistan through his writings and the local newspapers carry the translation of his articles.
His critics allege that he is suffering from the delusions of grandeur. It is a great irony that Vaidik has now become an 'infamous' personality and a national issue which has stalled even the Parliament session. Perhaps, even he does not want this kind of publicity. But, there is little he can do to salvage himself.
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