Close to the cake remark of Antoinette : Outlandish remarks
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 26 2015 -

Not exactly ‘if you don’t have bread eat cake’ but a good number of BJP leaders have been coming out with one controversial statement after the other.

Not that leaders of other political parties are not guilty, but the manner in which some of these statements have come out recently is alarming.

It is these thoughtless and utterly irresponsible statements that can undo all the initiatives taken up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accelerate development and growth of the Nation.

Unfortunately there is nothing much to suggest that the Prime Minister is himself overtly worried by the non-sensical statements issued by his Ministers and allies.

If former Army chief and now Minister of State for Defence, VK Singh was in the news recently for his ‘dog’ statement on the killings of two minors at Faridabad recently, others have not been lagging behind either.

Signs of growing intolerance and it is perhaps this which prompted President Pranab Mukherjee to call on the people to promote tolerance and respect differences.

The President’s call is perfectly in line with the ‘unity in diversity’ line which India takes immense pride in announcing for all to hear.

Time for the BJP leadership to come around to the idea that the non-sensical pronouncements delivered by some of its political leaders go against the very understanding of India as a Nation which is home to numerous communities and practices secularism.

To think that someone can be killed on the charge of eating beef is anathema to the understanding of democracy and secularism.

True a good number of States in India have banned cow slaughter and beef has disappeared from the menu of numerous eateries but this does not mean that a mob can gather and lynch someone on the charge of storing and eating beef.

It is these elements that the Centre should take note of.

What has made matter more unpalatable is the manner in which some BJP Ministers have reacted to the incident.

Has the Prime Minister taken note of the absolute nonsense that a BJP leader like Mahesh Sharma held when he said that the Dadri lynching of the 50 year old man was an accident ?

Insensitive and cruel, if one may add.

Moreover how can one condone a statement such as the one made by Nawab Singh Nagar when he dismissed the killing as the result of some excitement among kids ?

Move away from the Dadri lynching and there are numerous other instances wherein some BJP leaders have been riding rough shod over people’s sensibilities.

Remember the utterance of Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena which is an ally of the BJP, wherein he has been reported as saying that the voting rights of Muslims should be scrapped.

It is these elements which the Prime Minister should try to rein in.