New Delhi, March 31 (IANS): Criticising Congress for relinquishing the ‘Katchatheevu’ island to Sri Lanka, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla accused the Congress of “betraying” national interests and “jeopardising” the livelihoods of Tamil Nadu’s fishermen.

In a press conference held at the party headquarters here, Poonawalla said that the DNA of the Congress has a nature of “fragmenting the unity, integrity and sovereignty” of the nation.

He said that the mindset of Congress is inclined towards “dividing” the country and considers the land of the nation as the “personal possession” of a particular family.

Poonalwalla said that an RTI revealed that during the tenure of PM Indira Gandhi's government, then Tamil Nadu CM Karunanidhi was ordered to transfer the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka.

“The island was not just a piece of land; it was an integral part of Bharat, an inseparable part of Tamil Nadu, a vital source of livelihood for the local fishermen,” he said.

Poonawalla referred to a newspaper report of May 1961, where Jawaharlal Nehru purportedly said: "I would have no hesitation in giving up our claims on the island. I do not like this pending matter indefinitely and being raised again and again."

Pointing out Nehru's indifferent attitude towards territorial issues, like the Aksai Chin and Katchatheevu, he said that the former PM’s statement indicated negligence towards such matters despite their significance.

He said that Congress consistently treated the nation's property as its own and historically “compromised” it, adding that Aksai Chin was handed over to China under illegal occupation, and thousands of kilometres of India’s land in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) were handed over to Pakistan.

He accused Congress of being “hypocritical” as they “handed over” the Katchatheevu Island “compromising” India’s integrity and yet they claim the Army's surgical strike of being bloodshed and demand proof of the surgical strike.