New Delhi: The BJP reacted on Saturday to a joint statement by 13 Opposition leaders condemning communal violence and accusing duplicity against them, saying the Congress and other parties set fire to communities and undermine communal harmony.
The BJP also accused the Opposition leaders of deception, citing a surge of arson and sectarian violence in West Bengal, which is governed by the Trinamool Congress, which is also a signatory to the joint statement.
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia slammed the joint statement appeal, alleging Congress and other parties create arson and disrupt the communal harmony whether they are in power or Opposition.
In the light of recent acts of violence in various parts of the country, 13 opposition parties, including Congress, released an united statement, urging people to maintain peace and harmony.
“West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is a signatory to the joint statement. But violence is taking place on a large scale in West Bengal. Such duplicity only shows that the Opposition parties, including Congress, whether they’re in power or in Opposition, are responsible for disrupting the harmony while also indulging in arson,” Mr Bhatia said.
The BJP leader accused the opposition parties of practicing “appeasement politics,” claiming that their actions contradicted what they said in their joint statement.
“The joint statement is fake. People are questioning (interim president of Congress) Sonia Gandhi for her silence over Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan Chief Minister) failing to catch prime accused Matlub Ahmed in the Karauli violence. Why is he absconding for 14 days? Your appeal seeks strict action against rioters. But this is not happening in Karauli. Is this because you want to practice appeasement politics? Actions are opposite to words used in the joint statement,” he said.
Mr Bhatia slammed Rahul Gandhi for labeling the demolition a “bulldozer of hatred,” citing the example of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who ordered the Khargone government to remove illegal houses of the guilty in the Ram Navami riots.
“You are not taking action in the state where you are in power. In Madhya Pradesh where you’re in opposition, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has taken strict action. The accused has been arrested. Their illicit properties were brought down (with a bulldozer). Rahul Gandhi called it a bulldozer of hatred. You stand with the rioters and break the morale of the men in uniform,” he said.
During the Ram Navami procession, numerous persons were hurt by stone-pelting between two factions.
Meanwhile, appealing to the people to maintain peace, Congress tweeted, “We reiterate our commitment to combat and confront the poisonous ideologies which are attempting to entrench divisiveness in our society.”
Expressing deep concern over the “growing incidents of hate speech and recent outburst of communal violence” in the country, leaders of 13 Opposition parties in a joint statement on Saturday urged people to maintain peace and harmony while demanding stringent punishment against the perpetrators of communal violence.
Sonia Gandhi (Congress), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool), M K Stalin (DMK), Sitaram Yechury (CPM), Farooq Abdullah (National Conference), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), D Raja (CPI), Debabrata Biswas (Forward Bloc), Manoj Bhattacharya (RSP), PK Kunhalikutty (IUML), Dipanker Bhattacharya (and CPI-ML) issued the joint statement on Saturday.
The 13 leaders alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been silent on the spate of communal violence and said that he has “failed to speak against the words and actions of those who propagate bigotry and those who, by their words and actions, incite and provoke our society.”
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