Modi, Congress throw riots at each other

PM ‘recalls’ 1984 Sikh riots

Even as the Opposition and the intelligentsia wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak up on the issue of growing intolerance in the country, he did so in his own style, hitting back at the Opposition Congress by raising the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

In a counter-attack, the Congress accused him of causing “lasting damage” to the country’s social fabric and said his remarks were “politically motivated” and aimed at reopening wounds after 31 years.

Speaking at a rally in Bihar, Mr Modi, in a stinging attack, asked the Congress whether they “recall” the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. His remarks came a day after Congress president Sonia Gandhi voiced concern about intolerance. The Congress leadership is also holding a protest march from Parliament to Rashtrapati Bhavan on November 3 against growing incidents of intolerance and attacks on rationalists.

“Today is November 2. Do you recall 1984 Lakhs of Sikhs were massacred in Delhi and across India on the second, third and fourth day of Indira Gandhi’s killing in which serious allegations were made against the Congress and its leaders. Today, on the same day, the Congress party is giving a lecture on the issue of tolerance. Doob maro, doob maro (drown in shame). This does not behove you... The tears in the eyes of the Sikh victims have not yet dried. Their wounds have not healed and you are doing this dramebaazi on November 2,” he said at an election rally in Purnea.

The final phase of polling is scheduled on November 5 when 57 Assembly constituencies in the minorities-dominated Seemanchal region will go to polls.

Taking a dig at the JD(U) and RJD, the PM thanked both, saying the 40 seats given to the Congress to contest will be bagged “uncontested” by the NDA. The PM also accused the grand alliance leaders of playing with the nation’s security by “sheltering” those promoting terror and asked if such people should be allowed to form a government in the state. He hurled the “Darbhanga module” jibe at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, saying it was the outcome of the ineffectiveness of the CM and his government.

Mr Modi said while he talked of uplifting Bihar through development, the grand alliance leaders tried to enact a “drama” and gave “casteist colour” to the Assembly polls by spreading “imaginary fears” about a move to scrap quotas. The PM said the Opposition tried to “create a scare” of him by “telling people this or that will happen if he comes here, but people reposed faith in me”.

In its counter-attack, the Congress raised the spectre of the 2002 communal carnage in Gujarat, saying, “In 2002 the BJP government in Gujarat didn’t heed the advice of its own party’s Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. Modi should look into his own backyard before accusing others.”

Accusing the PM of doing “lasting damage” to India’s social fabric by “selective targeting of the minority community”, Congress leader Anand Sharma claimed Mr Modi’s remarks at the Purnea rally were “politically motivated and mischievous” and aimed at reopening wounds after 31 years.

The BJP maintained that the Congress and intellectuals close to it had launched a “malicious campaign” against the PM and the ruling party “as for the first time since Independence an alternative world view was being spread by the BJP”.

Senior BJP leader and Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said, “Congress talking about intolerance is like the devil quoting scripture. Their plan to meet the President of India protesting against intolerance is the joke of the decade. Congress and its political friends are intolerant of the people’s mandate.”

Bringing up the Emergency, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and the “well-publicised killings of individuals for ideological reasons in Kerala”, the Union minister wondered why many of these intellectuals were silent then.

On rating agency Moody’s warning to the government that India may lose credibility if such incidents continue, Mr Naidu said, “They have given caution. Naturally, caution has to be kept in mind. That’s why I am cautioning these people who are trying to tar the image (of India). Moody has appreciated Modi.”