Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said the level of humanity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is such that he neither regretted the death of thousands of people in the Gujarat riots nor condemned the minister whose son mowed down farmers.
Releasing a book on the second Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Kharge said on Thursday: “When 156 people died in a train accident on November 23, 1956, Shastri took moral responsibility and resigned as railway minister. Ab toh minister ke bachche kisano ko kuchal dete hain par na wo kahte hain galat hua, na pradhan mantri. Pradhan mantri chuppi sadh lete hain, bolte nahin, kabhi dukh prakat nahin kiya (Now a minister’s son mows down farmers and neither the minister nor the Prime Minister concedes it’s wrong. The Prime Minister falls silent, doesn’t talk about it, never expressed regret).”
Kharge continued: “Not only now, when a very big riot happened in Ahmedabad, he said you do feel sad when a puppy comes under the wheels. This is the reaction to the death of thousands of people. This is the level of humanity.” The Congress president accused Modi of frequently indulging in small talk without caring for the dignity of the post of Prime Minister.
“Modi went to Belgaum (in Karnataka), and talked about me being remote-controlled despite becoming Congress president and the absence of an umbrella over my head. Tell me, where is J.P. Nadda’s remote control? He too is the BJP president. And I have a Gandhi cap on my head, I don’t need any other protection,” Kharge said.
“My leaders had a white umbrella over their heads. But Modi had a black umbrella and people under it who indulge in black deeds. People with me are spotless, people who don’t indulge in black deeds. My leaders have been Gandhi and Nehru and Shastri. Shastri never indulged in small talk. Prime Ministers get respect because they weigh their words before speaking. Modi says lowly things every minute,” Kharge added. Recalling that Shastri had said in his speech decades ago that motor vehicles and aircraft were being manufactured along with critical infrastructure, Kharge said: “Modi asks, what happened in 70 years? Shastriji gave the answer in the sixties. But Modi keeps asking without acknowledging that we gave the Green Revolution (agriculture) and the White Revolution (milk and other dairy products). And what does he do all the time? Hindu-Muslim, Hindu-Muslim. The only concern is how to create divisions in society. Rahul Gandhi took out the Bharat Jodo Yatra to unite India.”
Kharge further said: “You feel ashamed to recall the statements of BJP leaders. We want unity and harmony and they spread hatred. I appeal to writers and historians to keep writing on the basis of truth and facts. Express yourself, write the truth. History is being distorted. ED-CBI police are unleashed on people who speak the truth. But democracy has to be protected. Constitution gives freedom of speech.”
Referring to Rahul Gandhi, Kharge said: “There is a conspiracy to oust him from Parliament because he exposes the government. I want to ask the people: who should be punished, the likes of Nirav Modiand Mehul Choksi who looted India and ran away or Rahul Gandhi? Those who take money from the SBI and the LIC to buy our national assets, all the PSUs, airports, ports…. I want to tell people – ‘daro mat (fear not)’.”
