Congress lashes out at BJP over religious minorities remarks, calls it 'counterfeit pretence, sham attempt' at damage control

New Delhi [India], June 5 : Soon after the BJP on Sunday suspended its spokesperson Nupur Sharma from the party's primary membership and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal after their alleged controversial remarks on religious minorities, Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala lashed out at the BJP by saying that "it is nothing but a blatantly counterfeit pretence and sham attempt at damage control."
The BJP earlier asserted that it respects all religions and strongly denounces insult of any religious personality. Party general secretary Arun Singh said in a statement that the party is strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion.
Penning down an official letter on behalf of the Congress party, Surjewala responded to this and wrote, "BJP's statement today saying it is, 'strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion' is nothing but a blatantly counterfeit pretence, which is evidently farce and another sham attempt at damage control."
"The BJP and its shenanigans have repeatedly and by design insulted India's centuries-old civilisational ethos of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' by constantly pitting one community and religion against another to polarise, to divide and to spread hatred," the statement read.
Lashing out at the Centre for its "intrinsic character", Surjewala said that the Centre has now founded upon religious violence, divisive conservatism and nurturing hatred to secure vote-bank politics. "None less than the Prime Minister and the BJP Chief Ministers, of the ilk of Adityanath, have introduced a new political vocabulary of the state-sponsored division of society, i.e. Shamshan-Kabristan, 80 vs 20, bulldozer. The language of politics in elections no longer centres around phrases like development, employment, progress, education, agriculture, irrigation, electricity, trade and business, infrastructure etc. It is now entirely centred upon creating, propagating, promoting and executing a wedge between religions and communities based on what they wear, what they eat, how they live, how they celebrate their religion or even how they speak," he said.
The Congress party general secretary said that the "truth is that the BJP has pushed India into a dark age of religious polarisation to subserve its parochial political agenda in the short term. Its leaders, as well as workers, have perpetrated only one thing and that is creating a schism in India's universally celebrated idea of unity in diversity."
"The BJP and its leadership need to rethink the irreparable damage being caused to the polity by their insatiable lust for power. Resultantly, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians as also SC, ST and OBC's have had to face the wrath of lumpen elements backed by State Power. This cannot be the central theme of any political party," the statement said.
He added, "The placatory expulsion of two key members and spokespersons of the BJP from its primary membership, done obviously under duress of threats from external powers, exposes the much touted 'muscular posturing' and positioning of the BJP and the Modi Government."
"Is the BJP sincere in course correcting? Is the BJP trying to atone for its immeasurable sins or is it more chameleon like posturing? Will the bulldozing of India's soul, its ethos and its all-encompassing humanity by the bulldozer of hatred finally stop? Will the mob-lynching of our Constitutional ethos cease? Is repentance by the BJP and its leadership possible? A short statement by the BJP is unlikely to heal the millions of wounds inflicted on the ethos of Indianness. One thing is clear, it is a lesson to the virulent members of the BJP that they are nothing but fodders in this game of political grandstanding and that they can be used, thrown and discarded at the drop of a hat," he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday suspended its spokesperson Nupur Sharma from the party's primary membership and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal after their alleged inflammatory remarks against minorities.
The development comes hours after the party issued a statement seeking to defuse the row.
Expelling Jindal, a communication from its Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said, "Your primary membership is immediately terminated and you are expelled from the party."
Further, a communication to Sharma from the party's disciplinary committee said she has expressed views contrary to the party's position on various matters, which is in clear violation of its constitution.
Member secretary of BJP's central disciplinary committee, Om Pathak in a letter to Sharma said, "You have expressed views contrary to the Party's position on various matters, which is in clear violation of Rule 10 (a) of constitution of the BJP. I have been directed to convey to you that pending further inquiry, you are suspended from the party and from your responsibilities/assignments if any, with immediate effect."
Earlier in the day, BJP said in a statement issued by its general secretary Arun Singh, "The BJP strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion. The Bharatiya Janata Party is also against any ideology which insults or demeans any section or religion. The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy."
BJP stated that it "respects all religions" and is "strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion".
"During the thousands of years of the history of India every religion has blossomed and flourished. The Bharatiya Janata Party respects all religions," the brief statement said.
"India's Constitution gives the right to every citizen to practice any religion of his/her choice and to honour and respect every religion. As India celebrates 75th year of its independence, we are committed to making India a great country where all are equal and everyone lives with dignity, where all are committed to India's unity and integrity, where all enjoy the fruits of growth and development," it said.
However, the official statement made no direct mention of any incident or comment made by Sharma during the debate.
The Mumbai police registered an FIR against Sharma based on a complaint by Irfan Shaikh, joint secretary of the Mumbai wing of Raza Academy. It stated that Sharma, in a news debate on the Gyanvapi issue, allegedly made controversial comments about Prophet Muhammad. Moreover, Jindal allegedly tweeted against the interests of the country.