The Hindu
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
As a row erupted over his reported comments that
Muslims can live in the country but will have to give up eating beef,
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday said his words have
been distorted but he was ready to express regret if he has hurt the
sentiments of people.
The reported remarks on beef
triggered an outrage with the Congress calling it a sad day for Indian
democracy and slamming him for his “unconstitutional” remarks.
However, the BJP leader said his words have been twisted.
“My words have been distorted. I never made such a statement. But if
the sentiments of anyone have been hurt with my words, I am ready to
express my regret,” Mr. Khattar said.
The Chief Minister’s Advisor Jawahar Yadav said that Mr. Khattar never made such a statement.
“The Chief Minister has himself denied that he made such a statement.
He did not say what has been published by a newspaper. The CM has said
cow is a subject of faith for crores of people in the country. Khattar
had given an example of his recent visit to Mewat where Gau Shalas are
being run by Muslims and where some people expressed views that Muslims
should avoid eating beef,” he said.
In an interview
published by a newspaper, the Haryana Chief Minister had said “Muslims
can continue to live in this country, but they will have to give up
eating beef” because “cow is an article of faith here”.
Reactions
Coming
close on the heels of controversial statements made by a few BJP
leaders over the lynching of a Muslim by villagers in Dadri over rumours
that he had eaten and stored beef, Mr. Khattar’s reported comments
invited a backlash from the opposition parties.
“Sad
day for India’s democracy! CM Khattarji will now decide qualifications
for Indian citizenship. Is this new model of governance Modiji?”
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked, taking a dig at Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav
attacked BJP, saying its leaders keep taunting Muslims and ask them to
go to Pakistan but what will they do with people in northeast where beef
is eaten?
“They will have to understand that India is not Europe or China. It is a diverse country,” he said.
Another
Congress leader Rashid Alvi said Mr. Khattar’s comments were
unconstitutional and he had no right to continue as the chief minister.
BJP distances itself
BJP dissociated itself from the views of Mr. Khattar and said this was not the party’s stand.
“The
views expressed by Khattar are not that of the party. I will talk to
him and will advise him. It is wrong to say like that,” Parliamentary
Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu told PTI, adding that it is not correct to link anyone’s eating habits to religion.
“This
is not the BJP’s position. It is not correct to link eating habits to
religion. People have to keep in mind the sentiments of others and
eating is a personal choice of people,” he said.
Mr.
Naidu said no civilized person will support the killing of anyone for
his eating habits and termed the Dadri incident as “highly condemnable”.
The Prime Minister and BJP chief Amit Shah have also expressed their
disapproval of the incident.
He, however, said the
Dadri incident was a law and order issue concerning Uttar Pradesh and
its chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and the Samajwadi Party government
should be questioned on it, instead of putting the blame on the BJP-led
central government.
The Parliamentary Affairs
Minister also denied that intolerance was increasing in the country and
said that such incidents have been taking place in the past too.
“There
is a systematic and malicious campaign against the BJP-led government
to divert its focus from development and to derail Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s efforts of making India develop and progress further,”
he said.
Mr. Naidu also termed the protest by writers
who returned their awards as “selective” and questioned how many of
them had resigned when Emergency was imposed in the country or when the
1984 anti-Sikh riots took place in the aftermath of the assassination of
the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Sikhs were massacred in
Delhi.
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