Religious festivals seem to have become occasions to intimidate and bully others, said Congress former chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday, in an apparent reference to recent anti-Muslim violence during Ram Navami in several states.
“Religious festivals seem to have become occasions to intimidate and bully others — a far cry from when they were occasions for joy and celebration. Instead, there is intimidation and discrimination only on account of their religion, food, caste, gender or language,” said Sonia in an Op-Ed in “The Hindu.”
Violence and vandalism have marred Ram Navami Processions in several states of India, targeting Muslims. Hate speech and stone-pelting against places of worship and shrines were common in all the incidents, which occurred in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, and Gujarat.
Sonia Gandhi also said her party will join hands with all like-minded parties to defend the Constitution as Narendra Modi government is “misusing every power.”
“The government’s deep-rooted disdain for democracy and democratic accountability is disturbing,” she added.
“The Congress party will make every effort to take its message directly to the people, as it did in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and will join hands with all like-minded parties to defend the Constitution of India and its ideals,” Gandhi asserted.
“Over the past months, we have witnessed the prime minister and his government systematically dismantling all three pillars of India’s democracy — the legislature, the executive and the judiciary — with their actions demonstrating a deep-rooted disdain for democracy and democratic accountability,” the veteran leader alleged.
She also alleged that the media’s independence has long been compromised by the political intimidation of the government
“Not satisfied with this, the government has armed itself with legal powers by amending the Information Technology rules to remove legal protections for any news which it dislikes under the label of ‘fake news’. The Supreme Court of India has recently made clear that criticism of the government is not a ground for penal action. Is the government listening?” she asked.
“No doubt, an army of lawyers from the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) stands ready to harass any platform which publishes criticism of the great leader,” she said.
