From 'Felt At Home In Pakistan' To ''84 Mein Hua To Hua,': Sam Pitroda's 7 Remarks That Created Controversies

Congress leader Sam Pitroda has sparked fresh controversy with his remarks encouraging dialogue with neighboring countries, particularly noting that he "felt at home" in Pakistan.

In a recent interview with IANS, Pitroda stated, "Our foreign policy, according to me, must first focus on our neighbourhood. Can we really substantially improve relationships with our neighbours?... I've been to Pakistan, and I must tell you, I felt at home. I've been to Bangladesh, I've been to Nepal, and I feel at home. I don't feel like I'm in a foreign country..."

This comment comes at a particularly sensitive time, just months after India's Operation Sindoor in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that resulted in 26 fatalities.

This is not an isolated incident in Pitroda's history of controversial statements. In February, he downplayed threats from China, saying, "I don't understand the threat from China. I think this issue is often blown out of proportion because the US has a tendency to define an enemy. I believe the time has come for all nations to collaborate, not confront."

Last year, Pitroda created a stir with his description of India's diversity: "We could hold together a country as diverse as India - where people in the East look like Chinese, people in the West look like Arabs, people in the North look maybe White, and people in the South look like Africans." The Congress party promptly distanced itself from these remarks, with Jairam Ramesh stating they were "extremely wrong and unacceptable."

During the Lok Sabha elections last year, Pitroda referenced US inheritance tax laws while addressing Prime Minister Modi's allegations about Congress's wealth redistribution plans: "If a person has property worth US dollars 10 million, then after his death, 45 per cent of the property goes to his children and 55 per cent of the property goes to the government."

In 2023, he questioned national priorities by asking, "Is Ram Mandir the real issue or Inflation?" He urged the Prime Minister to focus on employment, inflation, and technology challenges rather than religious matters.

In 2019, while defending Congress's NYAY scheme, Pitroda advised that "the middle class should not be selfish and have a big heart."

Perhaps his most notorious comment came regarding the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, when he dismissively said, "Ab kya hai '84 ka? Aapne kya kiya 5 saal mein, uski baat kariye. '84 mein hua to hua."

Following the 2019 Pulwama attack, Pitroda also made controversial statements about Pakistan: "I don't know much about attacks. It happens all the time... Eight people come and do something, you don't jump on the entire nation. Naive to assume that just because some people came here and attacked, every citizen of that nation is to be blamed."

With these latest remarks about Pakistan, Pitroda has once again ignited political controversy, adding to his history of statements that have drawn widespread criticism.