Oppn should fight BJP politically, says Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley categorically dismissed the ongoing debate over “rising intolerance” in the country on Tuesday, saying Opposition parties should fight their battle with the BJP politically instead.

“Where is intolerance? The situation in the country is absolutely peaceful. The country has never been intolerant and will never be intolerant. Political opponents must fight the battle politically,” he told reporters here.

Jaitley was responding to questions from the media over Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi leading a march to Rashtrapati Bhavan to appeal to President Pranab Mukherjee to use his constitutional powers to end the “atmosphere of intolerance”.

“We want a good atmosphere in the country. An atmosphere of intolerance cannot be created in the country by just making statements. There is absolute peace in the country. Hence, there is no point in raising issues for political reasons. Everybody has a right to live his life in his way,” he said.

Jaitley described the recent incidents, including lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri, as “aberrations”, saying “this was a crime and action must be taken against whoever perpetrated it.”

He also described the killing of Kannada Scholar M M Kalburgi and two other rationalists Narendra Dabolkar and Govind Pansare as a “crime”, saying culprits of these killings must be arrested and punished.

“If some incident happens like the one in Karnataka, which is Congress ruled, and those in Maharashtra, during the UPA-NCP regime, you cannot link them to the Central government (of the day) for political reasons. This is not fair. The government condemned these incidents. It never supported them,” he added.

The minister also disapproved the decision of protesting writers, artists, scientists and filmmakers to return their awards. “There was no justification in returning awards when the atmosphere in the country is absolutely peaceful,” he added.