Opposition parties and leading writers have reacted sharply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “weak” condemnation of the Dadri like incidents and his take on cancellation of Ghulam Ali concert at Mumbai.
Congress accused the Prime Minister of selective amnesia and not taking appropriate action in the Dadri lynching incident and said not posturing but concrete action is needed. leading writer Nayantara Sahgal who recently returned her Sahitya Akademi award protesting “growing intolerance” in the country too demanded a strong condemnation by the Prime Minister. She was joined by several other writers and authors who said unfortunate term used by PM is a very “weak” condemnation.
Criticising the Prime Minister, Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said that Modi selectively forgets that BJP Government is in power in Maharashtra where Ali’s concert was cancelled or Sudheendra Kulkarni’s face was smeared with paint.
“Narendra Modi is suffering from selective amnesia. He has forgotten that he is the Prime Minister of entire country and safety and protecting the life of 125 crore citizens of India is his responsibility,” Surjewala said.
“Will the Prime Minister tell the nation what action did he take against Mahesh Sharma, his MinisterIJ What action did he take against another Minister Sanjeev BalyanIJ What action did he take against BJP leaders of the ilk Sangeet Som as also Sadhvi Prachi and othersIJ” Surjewala asked. Another Congress MP Sachin Pilot said it is not appropriate for the Centre to wash its hands of by saying that it had no role to play.
JD(U) president Sharad Yadav also criticised the Prime Minister saying that while he is quick to speak on the victories of the cricket team, he was speaking on the Dadri incident after much delay. He described the Dadri lynching as a “Talibani act”.
“He Modi) speaks in so many countries...If cricket team wins he immediately speaks and on other things also he immediately speaks up. This is a matter of country’s unity, then how can the Prime Minister speak over this after delayIJ” Yadav said.
CPI MP D Raja slammed Modi’s remarks on the Dadri incident as “too little and too late”, saying it amounted to dereliction of duty.
Sahgal said there is an “increase in violence” and “many people are afraid about the future.” “This country belongs to all Hindustanis, not just for Hindus. All Hindustanis need to be protected. Government must consider this its responsibility that each religion is respected and our pluralism is given its due. This is not happening,” said Sahgal in a statement.
Bengaluru based author Shashi Deshpande, who had stepped down from the general council of the Sahitya Akademi, said that Modi has used a very weak word “unfortunate” to term the lynching incident.