PM should bring justice to Godhra victims: Digvijaya

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should provide justice to the victims of the Godhra riots in 2002 and sack two of his ministerial colleagues, including Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, in order to demonstrate his commitment to the protection of minorities.

Speaking after inaugurating a seminar on “World’s view and legacy of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru”, he accused the Modi government of protecting the “murderers” who killed innocent people in the name of encounters in Gujarat and hounding social activist Teesta Setalvad by booking false cases against her. 

He said Union Minister Niranjan Jyoti, who made the controversial “Ramzada, Haramzada” statement, and Sanjeev Baliyan, who is accused of involvement in the Muzaffarnagar riots, should be removed if Modi is committed to protecting religious minorities.

“Can a leopard change its spots?...It cannot,” Singh said. Singh, who is AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, held the ruling party at the Centre responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and described US President Barack Obama lecturing about the right to religious freedom during his recent visit to India  a “shame”. 

He charged Modi with trying to erase the legacy of Nehru and called upon people to prevent it.  “Those in Niti Ayog do not even know the difference between the Planning Commission and Niti Ayog. He (Modi) wants to write off all that is connected with Nehru,” he said.