Criticising the BJP-led Government at the Centre for trying to curtail the freedom of speech and expression, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday asked if the BJP Government will slap sedition charge against him as he also supports JNU students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar.
“I do not agree to what Kanhaiya Kumar said on freedom in totality. However, he has the right of speech and freedom to say so and that right cannot be snatched away from him. Rahul Gandhi supported Kanhaiya Kumar and sedition charge was slapped against him. I also support him, so file sedition charge against me,” Gogoi asked while interacting with the media on Monday in Guwahati.
“There can be differences of opinion and ideologies in democracy. However, the BJP and the RSS are trying to impose one ideology in the whole of the country, which is not good. India is a country with diverse culture and with multiple ethnicities and this is not possible here,” he said.
“The BJP and the RSS are also trying to curtail the freedom of speech and expression and this is not good for the democratic practice in the country,” said Gogoi.
The three time Assam Chief Minister also referred to the protests and agitations against the Government in the State and said that despite the protests and agitations, the Government had not filed any sedition charge against anyone so far.
“There have been protests and agitations here also. Several organisations have been openly protesting against us including Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi. However, we have not booked sedition charge against him,” Gogoi said adding that only those who resorts to violence during protests are arrested and punished.
Gogoi also fired a salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that while Modi’s marketing is good his products are useless, “His marketing is good but products are spurious. This has already started poisoning the minds of the people in the country. I have been into politics for a long time but I have not seen such a Government,” he said.
“Hindus and Muslims are divided now. It was there during the time of the Government of the then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee also. But it has gone beyond limits now,” he said.