JULY 16- A fresh war of words broke out between BJP leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the Congress.
Taking turns, the BJP and the Congress are trading barbs on Modi’s remarks at the ruling party “wearing the burqa” of secularism.
The fresh salvo comes from Union Minister Shashi Tharoor who took a jibe at Modi, saying it is preferable to “khaki shorts of Italian fascists”.
“Secularism burqa in my view is preferable to the khaki shorts of the Italian fascists of the 1920s. Shorts which signify intolerance and hatred, which he is not trying to hide. He was a RSS pracharak,” he said.
Lashing out at RSS and Modi, Tharoor said the burqa represents the belief of a certain faith but the Khaki shorts represented intolerance to other communities.
“One may represent a particular attitude to a certain faith, the other represents hatred and intolerance of other communities and belief systems. That is what is wrong,” he said at a function here organised by FICCI in New Delhi.
Modi on Sunday targeted the Congress, saying the party wears the burqa of secularism to hide its failures whenever it is in crisis. Sharply criticising Modi for his remarks, the Congress confronted the BJP leader, saying that the ‘burqa’ of secularism is better than “naked communalism”.
Earlier in the day, Congress General Secretary Ajay Maken said, “The burqa of communalism is much better than naked communalism. While communalism divides, secularism binds.”
Joining the debate, Union Minister Manish Tewari called the Opposition sectarian and communal.
He said, “The vision of the Congress party is pluralistic and inclusive. And the vision of the section of the opposition has been sectarian, majoritarian and communal right from the beginning.”
Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, on the other hand, urged the BJP leaders not to indulge in petty politics. He said these are Congress’ tactics to divert people from the serious issues of corruption and economy by raking up the secular-communal debate.
He said, “Rupee is falling, industrial production is negative, inflation is rising high… this is not good for common man. There is a serious crisis in India and no one is discussing them. Instead we are discussing baseless things like secularism and communalism.”
“The debate on secularism and communalism should be avoided. We should talk about India’s progress,” he further said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also took potshots at Modi for using words like ‘burqa’ and ‘puppy’ in his speeches.
Meanwhile, the BJP defended the Gujarat Chief Minister. BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman, in an interview to a news channel, said the Congress has no right to criticise Modi.
INDIA TODAY
