New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) Reacting to senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s statement about breaking down to tears during the Babri Masjid demolition, Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Monday accused her of selective concern, alleging that the Congress party has consistently pursued the politics of Muslim appeasement.
Speaking to IANS, Giriraj Singh said, “She rightly said that she shed tears when the Babri Masjid was demolished and when the Batla House encounter took place. But when there was violence during the Ram temple movement and kar sevaks were killed, she did not shed tears for them. Perhaps that is because the issue concerns Hindus. How committed has Sonia Gandhi ever been to India?”
He further questioned Sonia Gandhi’s citizenship and alleged that she had stayed in India illegally for more than 12 years before acquiring citizenship.
“She was married and came to India; she was not minor. She was living in the country illegally for more than 12 years. What affection would she have for the country? I want to ask Sonia ji, you talk about vote theft. You were staying here by committing vote theft without taking citizenship, and you also cast votes,” he told IANS.
The remarks come as Sonia Gandhi has revisited the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 and the Emergency imposed by her mother-in-law and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975 in her forthcoming memoir, ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, scheduled for publication on November 10.
In an interview, Sonia Gandhi recalled breaking down in tears while watching the Babri Masjid being demolished in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
Giriraj Singh also criticised Samajwadi Party leader Sanatan Pandey over his remarks defending the firing on kar sevaks during the Ram temple movement under the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
“This is the same politics of Muslim appeasement that the Congress pursued through its vote-bank politics. Mulayam Singh Yadav played the same game, as did Lalu Yadav in Bihar. Akhilesh Yadav is playing the same game today,” he said.
Separately, commenting on the controversy surrounding Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s Diwali greetings, Giriraj Singh accused him of echoing the views of Rahul Gandhi and the Gandhi family.
“Kharge is merely a mouthpiece of Rahul Gandhi and the Gandhi family. He only says what is on Rahul Gandhi’s mind. Even on Diwali, Kharge did not extend greetings to Hindus and followers of Sanatan Dharma. Instead, he remembered Eid and its delicacies. When the Congress was in power, it had said that Muslims had the first right to the country’s resources. His remarks have exposed the Congress’s politics of appeasement, particularly Muslim appeasement,” he said.
–IANS
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