JOIN USDigvijay tells Modi not to divide nation on religious lines
Slamming Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for describing himself as a “Hindu nationalist”, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Saturday asked him not to “divide the nation” on the basis of religion.
Singh posted on Twitter, “Shouldn’t we all be nationalist Indians rather than Hindu nationalist or Muslim nationalist or Sikh nationalist or Christian nationalist ?”
In another tweet, the senior Congress leader also took a jibe at “Sangh Parivar” saying, “Don't divide this great nation on the basis of religion which Savarkar and Jinnah did. They were the original authors of two-nation theory”
Hitting out at fundamentalism in all forms, Singh praised Pakistani teen activist Malala Yousafzai's speech at the United Nations a year after she was shot at by the Taliban.
“What a powerful condemnation of Taliban and all forms fundamentalism. She has now become an icon for world literacy. Congratulations to her and let us resolve to fight for all that she stands for! May God give her a long life and the strength she deserves,” the Congress general secretary said.
In an interview to foreign news agency Reuters, Narendra Modi had said that he had done “absolutely the right thing” during the 2002 riots and that his government had used its “full strength” to set things in order.
‘Born Hindu’
“I am a nationalist. I’m patriotic. Nothing is wrong. I am born Hindu. Nothing is wrong. So I’m a Hindu nationalist. So yes, you can say I’m a Hindu nationalist because I’m a born Hindu,” he had said.
Modi’s “puppy” analogy in the same interview had created furore with political parties demanding his apology.
“Even if I am in the back seat of a car and a puppy comes under the wheels, isn’t it painful? It is. Whether I am a chief minister or not, I am a human being. I will be sad if something bad happens anywhere,” the Gujarat chief minister was quoted as saying in the interview.
Rahman Khan flays Gujarat CM’s comment
Union Minority Affairs Minister Rahman Khan on Saturday described Narendra Modi’s “puppy” remark on the 2002. Gujarat riots as something a statesman would never say, DHNS reports from Bangalore.
Stating that his remarks reflected the “insensitivity of his mind”, Khan said: “No statesman can give such a statement. The less spoken the better.” He said it appeared that Modi did not know what to convey to the people. “These are signs of a frustrated person,” he said.