Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA government on the issue of intolerance as he addressed the Lok Sabha.
The Gandhi scion said that under the Narendra Modi government, “every protest amounts to sedition in today’s India”, accusing the government of crushing the voices of those who protest.
Targeting Union Minister VK Singh, Rahul Gandhi raked up the issue of the former Army general equating Dalit children, who were burnt alive in Sunped villager in Faridabad, with dogs.
Addressing the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the former Army general had “directly challenged the Constitution and fundamental Right to Equality” by calling the Dalit children dogs. He also questioned how the Prime Minister could allow him to continue in his ministry.
The Congress leader also made a reference to the Dadri lynching incident, saying “Air Force man Mohd Sartaj lost his father Mohd Akhlaq but still said ‘Saare Jahaan Se Achcha Hindustan Hamara’.”
“Mohd Sartaj’s father was killed in cold blood because he was a Muslim,” claimed Rahul Gandhi.
Hitting out at the Narendra Modi government over Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) students protest, the Congress vice president said that while the government talks of skill India it crushes the voices of skilled students of the institute.
“Government talks of skill India, Modi ji tells everybody that we need to skill our people…When students in FTII with superb skills complaint about a mediocre person heading them, the government crushes their voice,” said Rahul Gandhi.
Talking about the killing of rationalist leaders Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi, the Gandhi scion said that “the Prime Minister had nothing to say about their killing”.
He further said, “Modiji talked about Gujarat model and Achche din, you may have forgotten the slogan but we cannot, but what happened in Gujarat? Gujarat model burst like a balloon with the Patidar agitation.”
Rahul also raised the issue of former NDA minister and BJP leader Arun Shourie. “Arun Shourie used to praise Modi earlier, but when he criticised him, your trollers attacked him on Twitter,” he said.
He alleged that the government does not even bother to speak to the authors and writers who returned their awards in protest against intolerance. Attacking Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for calling the protest manufactured, the Gandhi scion said, “This is not a dream like Make in India project, this is the reality…you think people like PM Bhargava and Narayana Murthy have nothing to do but to manufacture protest against you?”
