A big controversy erupted on Thursday over Union Minister VK Singh’s “dog” remarks with the Opposition demanding his immediate sacking by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The ruling BJP defended the former Army chief saying that his statement should not be blown out of proportion.
The Opposition parties, led by the Congress demanded that a criminal case be registered against Gen (Retd) VK Singh under the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act even as Delhi’s ruling AAP said it will file an FIR with the police demanding his arrest under the Act.
Singh was at the centre of a controversy over his comments that the Centre cannot be blamed if somebody throws a stone at a dog. He was talking in the context of the burning of a Dalit family in Faridabad in which two children were killed. The Opposition did not miss the chance to rake up Narendra Modi’s infamous “puppy” analogy in the context of the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The BJP, however, stood by Singh, observing that the Minister himself has said that his statement was not intended to draw an analogy between the Faridabad incident and stoning of a dog.
“We should not blow the whole thing out of proportion,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.
“As far as the statement of the Minister VK Singh is concerned, he has himself given a clarification on the same. He has said he was misquoted. He never meant what was in fact showed in the media. He really condemns the incident, which happened in Faridabad... I think we should not blow the whole thing out of proportion,” said Patra.
When asked about the AAP’s announcement that it will file an FIR demanding Singh’s arrest, he said the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is not answering questions about Delhi, where it is the ruling party, and is interfering everywhere else.
Demanding that the Prime Minister should sack him and tender an apology on Singh’s behalf, AICC chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said a criminal case should be registered against the Minister under Prevention of Atrocities on Scheduled Castes Act.
“It is condemnable, it is shocking. It is inhuman to say the least. General VK Singh has insulted not only the entire Dalit community of this country but all Indians. It reflects the mindset of the Modi Government which insults Dalits, which insults the minorities and looks down upon the people who are poor and downtrodden,” Surjewala said.
Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari described the dog analogy used by Singh as “preposterous and abominable”. He recalled the Prime Minister of India making a similar analogy about two years back when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat when he said that if a puppy gets crushed under the wheels of a car it needs to be empathized. “That remark was in the context of the Gujarat pogrom,” said Tewari.
While CPI (M) Politburo member Brinda Karat described Singh’s remarks as “arrogance of casteism” and demanded registration of a criminal case against him, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called his statement shameful and prosecutable under SC/ST Act.
On Rijiju’s comments that North Indians enjoy breaking rules, Surjewala said, “The statement of Minister of State for Home, describing all North Indians as criminals as they take pride in violating the law is an insult to the entire nation.”
He said the fact that the statement was made in presence of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who chose not to controvert the same, made it even “more condemnable”.