The Congress today set the tone for nationwide protests against “growing intolerance” in society with party chief Sonia Gandhi saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence was a sign of approval for the goings-on.
“The Prime Minister has chosen not to speak up. His silence shows he condones whatever is happening,” said Sonia after she led a march of top party leaders, including vice-president Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to Rashtrapati Bhawan and submitted a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee on the “prevailing atmosphere of fear, intolerance and intimidation”.
The delegation, which began the march from Parliament House amid heavy police deployment, urged the President to use his “moral and political authority to impress upon the PM that his silence was unacceptable”.
While all members of the Congress Working Committee, party MPs and office-bearers participated in the march, a delegation of 125 leaders was allowed to meet the President. Part of the delegation was Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh, who made an appearance in a party agitation after a year.
As the march began, a Sikh group protested outside Parliament House demanding the withdrawal of Bharat Ratna conferred on former PM Rajiv Gandhi. “We need justice. We want to know what moral authority the Congress has to preach intolerance on the day that marks the anniversary of anti-Sikh riots,” said Harbhajan Singh, a protester. Asked which group he represented, he said: “We are all families of the riot victims.” The police dispersed the protesters as questions were raised on their presence in a heavily guarded area.
Sonia placed the Congress in the vanguard of the ongoing rebellion by intellectuals, saying the party had the “most vital role to play in the protection of liberal values”. “These incidents (read Dadri lynching, smearing of people’s faces with ink, etc.) are not minor occurrences. These are part of a plan to divide us and show who is in control,” Sonia said jibing the RSS without naming it. Rahul was more direct in taking on the Sangh as he accused the RSS of “manufacturing intolerance”.
Both slammed the ruling party for “assaulting India's fundamental values and ideals and for encouraging intolerance to hide their incompetence”.
“Ministers in the Modi Cabinet call two child victims of an anti-Dalit atrocity dogs. And they face no action. People are being lynched and killed. But the PM does not say a word. The President, RBI Governor and intellectuals have spoken up, but the Finance Minister says everything is fine. That is the heart of the problem. They believe in an ideology which cannot tolerate another point of view,” said Rahul after meeting the President as he hinted at a nationwide Congress offensive on the issue.
The memorandum to the President questioned the PM for continuing to harbour in his council ministers who were provoking communal sentiment. “While the President spoke on intolerance, the PM has not deemed it fit to do so. Worse, his Council of Ministers continues to harbour individuals who are contributing heavily to spreading hate and divisiveness,” said the memorandum presented by top Congress leaders.
