Congress President Sonia Gandhi has accused the BJP of spreading hatred of communalism for the sake of power and ‘hurting’ the ideology of Mahatama Gandhi.
“They are bent on hurting the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi which taught us religious tolerance and brotherhood among all communities,” the Congress President said reminding that today was ‘Martyr’s day’ when Gandhiji was assassinated by a fanatic.
“For the sake of the chair they are breaking age-old Ganga-Yamuna culture of the country and spreading communal hatred in society,” Gandhi told a Congress rally after inaugurating a campus of the Aligarh Muslim University in Kisanganj on Thursday.
During her 10 minute speech, she said that communal forces were trying to fool the people through lofty talks, while the Congress always worked hard to strengthen the foundation of secularism in the country.
Amid a war of words between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the Congress in the past two days over an invitation to the AMU function, Gandhi said the UPA government had always been kind toward the state and allocated Rs 134 lakh crore for its development in the last 10 years.
Union HRD minister M M Pallam Raju, Congress General Secretary and in-charge of Bihar Affairs C P Joshi, PCC chief Ashok Chaudhary and Kisanganj Congress Lok Sabha member Asrarul Haque were present on the dais.
Sonia cautions against weakening secular ethos
Batting for minority rights, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday cautioned people against forces weakening the country’s secular ethos and said communal harmony should not be disturbed over small, local incidents.
In her address at the inauguration of National Waqf Development Corporation, Gandhi also sought to underline the secular credentials of the Congress party.
She expressed the hope that the communal violence bill would soon be tabled in Parliament, saying it is aimed at protecting social amity and the nation’s secular legacy.
Gandhi said it is the government’s responsibility to protect and encourage secular values and ensure that minorities get equal opportunities.
“It is necessary that minorities feel secure and have trust in law and order mechanism. We should be cautious of powers which weaken India’s secularism,” she said.
In an apparent reference to Muzaffarnagar riots, Gandhi said, “It is necessary that small, local incidents should not be allowed to disturb our social harmony and law and order mechanism should deal with them sternly without any bias.”
Gandhi said the amount of money spent on schemes aimed at the welfare of minorities had risen ten-fold in the last 10 years under UPA.
The corporation aims to develop waqf properties for the welfare of Muslims and it fulfils yet another promise of the UPA, she said. Reiterating UPA government’s “unwavering” commitment to the welfare of minorities, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said it had implemented most of the recommendations of the Sachar Committee.
As soon as the prime minister concluded his speech, a member of the audience tried to disrupt the event protesting loudly against the poor implementation of the minority schemes.
He was bundled out of the auditorium by the security after he refused to be silent.
“I wrote 150 letters to the PM and did not receive even an acknowledgment,” Faheem Baig told reporters.
Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan met him later and heard out his grievances.
Gandhi also cautioned the government that only good schemes are not enough and their effective execution is the key.
“I want to stress that effective execution of schemes is also very necessary. The ground reality is that sometimes the benefits of these projects do not reach the targeted people. That is why it is necessary to put in a strong mechanism to deal with complaints,” she said.