Rijiju throws ‘intolerance’ ball in Congress’ court

NEW DELHI: Accusing Congress of selectively raising the 'intolerance' debate to target the Modi government, minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju on Thursday asked why the party leaders were silent when thousands of citizens of north-eastern origin were forced to leave Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune in view of racial threats two years ago.
Speaking exclusively to TOI, Rijiju said communal incidents and killings were down in 2014 and 2015 (until October) as compared to 2013, when the UPA was in power.“I am not saying lesser incidents and killings are a huge achievement ... such incidents should not happen at all. But given that the incidents are lower, why has this debate on 'intolerance' been generated?” he asked.
Reminding the NDA's critics about the exodus by north-eastern men and women in 2013 when racial threats created a fear psychosis and forced them to head back to their home states, Rijiju wondered why those crying 'intolerance' now chose to remain mum then. “North-eastern boys were brutally killed in broad daylight on the streets of Delhi. They are facing racial discrimination within India … though cases have come down as compared to the UPA regime. Why are the people ignoring this?” he countered.
Stating that feeling 'intolerance' was a subjective matter depending on who was staying where and what challenges he faced in life, Rijiju said the reality, as per official statistics on communal violence, was that both incidents and killings were down in 2015 and second half of 2014.
Riots, he said, had taken place even before BJP came to power, be it in Bhagalpur or Muzaffarnagar. “Where were the 'intolerance' debaters then?” he asked.
According to the minister, during the Congress government under Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, many Christians were openly persecuted in some states, including Arunachal Pradesh, in the name of protecting tribal rights. “Even Mother Teresa was not allowed to enter Arunachal Pradesh as she was a missionary. The Congress government at the Centre gave directions for persecution of Christians to appease tribals,” alleged Rijiju.
The minister also played back then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's statement, seemingly ‘justifying’ the killing of Sikhs in the wake of Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984. “When a large tree falls, those thriving under its shade are affected,” Rajiv had commented hours after Indira was killed by her Sikh bodyguards. “None other than the Prime Minister of the nation endorsed the killing of Sikhs. Where were the liberal groups who are now alleging intolerance? What has happened in the last 17 months that everything has changed? Why are they tarnishing the image of the country?” asked Rijiju. “the Modi government should instead be complimented for bringing down the number of communal incidents,” he said.
Asked if the silence of the PM after the Dadri lynching incident had ignited the debate on 'intolerance', Rijiju said Modi had, in fact, already said that the country is existing based on the philosophy of harmony. The home ministry too issued strong advisories to all the states saying that communal incidents should not happen and strict action must be initiated in such cases.
“Law and order is a state subject and the Centre can only issue advisories. If there is so much tension in Karnataka or Uttar Pradesh, why are their chief ministers not blamed?” he asked.
As for BJP leaders making communally insensitive remarks, Rijiju said party president Amit Shah had clearly told them not to make irresponsible statements and be careful with their choice of words.
“But who is controlling the Congress leaders who are shouting from the rooftops about India becoming intolerant? Has the Congress condemned those who compared RSS to Islamic State?” he asked.