JOIN USModi tells Cong not to preach tolerance
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday raked up the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the alleged involvement of Congress leaders in the carnage saying Sonia Gandhi has no right to lecture on tolerance.
The sharp attack from Modi provoked an equally strong reaction from the Congress which in turn brought up the post-Godhra communal riots of 2002 under Modi’s stewardship as Gujarat chief minister as the acrimonious campaign for the Bihar elections entered its last lap.
“Doob maro (drown in shame)... Try to remember that day in 1984 when Sikhs were being massacred in Delhi and all over India two-three days after Indira Gandhi was killed. There were serious charges against the Congress party and Congress leaders,” Modi said at an election rally in Purnea, Bihar.
He said the Congress had no right to speak of tolerance, particularly on the anniversary of the anti-Sikh riots. Taking cue from Modi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu upped the ante against the Congress and likened the main opposition party’s remarks on intolerance as “devil quoting scriptures”.
Naidu, speaking at the BJP headquarters, also attacked the authors, historians and scientists for speaking out against the incidents of intolerance accusing them of being silent when “genocide” of Sikhs took place in 1984 “under the supervision of Congress leaders”.
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma dubbed Modi’s remarks as “mischievous” and aimed at reopening the wounds after 31 years of the tragedy.
“The prime minister brought up a big tragedy that happened 31 years ago only for political gains,” Sharma said, alleging that “it is meant to divert attention from an orchestrated campaign to spread fear.”
Referring to the 2002 post-Godhra riots, the Congress recalled the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s advice to then chief minister Modi on following the ‘raj dharma’ in times when the minorities were feeling insecure.
“Like in 2002, Modi has forgotten Raj Dharma in 2015,” Sharma said adding that the prime minister was yet to address the issues raised by authors, thinkers, academics and scientists who have spoken out against the “rising incidents of intolerance”.
Rejecting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s contention that Modi was the biggest victim of intolerance, Sharma the Prime Minister cannot be given the certificate of excellence on this front....He is all-powerful and not that helpless.”
Naidu hit out at the authors and filmmakers returning awards saying their hearts did not bleed when a college professor’s right hand was chopped off in Kerala in 2010 or when a Marxist rebel was stabbed 51 times in 2012 or when the Dalits were burnt to death in Mirchipur in Haryana when Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda was chief minister.