Congress former chief Sonia Gandhi, in an apparent reference to recent anti-Muslim violence during Hindu Ram Navami processions in several Indian states has said that religious festivals seem to have become occasions to intimidate and bully others.
Sonia Gandhi in an Op-Ed in “The Hindu said, “Religious festivals seem to have become occasions to intimidate and bully others – a far cry from when they were occasions for joy and celebration. Instead, there is intimidation and discrimination only on account of their religion, food, caste, gender or language.”
During the processions of Hindu festival Ram Navami, Hindutva mobs had resorted to violence against Muslims and vandalized their properties and mosques in several states including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, and Gujarat. Hate speech and stone-pelting against Muslims’ places of worship and shrines were common in all the violent incidents.
Sonia Gandhi also said her party will join hands with all like-minded parties to defend the Constitution as Narendra Modi government is “misusing every power.” “The government’s deep-rooted disdain for democracy and democratic accountability is disturbing,” she said.
The Congress leader pointed out that over the past months, we have witnessed the prime minister and his government systematically dismantling all three pillars of India’s democracy – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary – with their actions demonstrating a deep-rooted disdain for democracy and democratic accountability.
Sonia Gandhi also maintained that the media’s independence has long been compromised by the political intimidation of the government. “Not satisfied with this, the government has armed itself with legal powers by amending the Information Technology rules to remove legal protections for any news which it dislikes under the label of ‘fake news’. The Supreme Court of India has recently made clear that criticism of the government is not a ground for penal action. Is the government listening?” she asked.
She said, no doubt, an army of lawyers from the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) stands ready to harass any platform which publishes criticism of Narendra Modi, whom she sarcastically described as great leader.—KMS
