By PTI
NEW DELHI: The AAP alleged on Monday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s patronage to “hate politics” has brought disgrace to the country and that raids were conducted by the ED against Delhi minister Satyendar Jain only to divert people’s attention from it.
It also slammed the BJP-led Centre over targeted killings by terrorists in Kashmir and alleged that the valley has been witnessing scenes similar to those of the 1990s because of the Modi government.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) targeted the prime minister after the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) slammed India for comments by two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries against Prophet Mohammad and urged the United Nations (UN) to take necessary measures to ensure that the rights of Muslims in India are protected.
While Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran and Kuwait expressed their condemnation of the controversial remarks against the Prophet and called for “respect for beliefs and religions”, Pakistan summoned the Indian chargé d’affaires to convey its categorical rejection and condemnation of the controversial remarks by the BJP leaders.
“Due to the politics of hate of the BJP and Narendra Modi, Indian envoys and ambassadors are being summoned, insulted and asked to apologise across the world. The BJP and its people make mistakes and India has to apologise. They get their training from Modi,” AAP Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Sanjay Singh told a press conference here.
BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal had recently made certain controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad.
Sharma’s comments, made during a television debate around 10 days ago, and Jindal’s now-deleted tweets sparked a Twitter trend, calling for a boycott of Indian products in some countries, while Qatar and Kuwait summoned the Indian ambassadors and handed over protest notes to them on what the Gulf countries called a categorical “rejection and condemnation” of the controversial remarks of the BJP leaders against the Prophet.
The BJP suspended Sharma and expelled Jindal on Sunday as the row over their remarks against Prophet Mohammad escalated with protests from some Muslim countries.
Singh termed the summoning of the Indian envoys abroad an “insult” to the 130 crore people of the country.
“India’s head is hanging in shame today because of Narendra Modi and his BJP’s hate politics,” he said, adding, “In the last 75 years of independence, none of the prime ministers brought so much shame to India as Modi has.”
The AAP leader also hit out at the Centre over the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) raids against Jain on Monday and alleged that the Delhi health minister and his family members are being “harassed and tortured”, even though he is “an honest man” and has made “huge contributions” in providing better healthcare services to the people of the national capital.
“Satyendar Jain was interrogated for five days but nothing was found against him. In the high court, they (ED) said there was no FIR or complaint against him. Then they raided his residence on Monday to insult his wife and family members,” Singh said.
He accused Modi of deploying the ED to conduct raids against Jain to divert people’s attention from the insult that the country had to suffer due to the BJP’s “hate politics”.
“The entire Jain community is sad and angry over the harassment and torture that Satyendar Jain and his family members have been put through,” Singh said.
He asked the prime minister to work on the education and health sectors, and take the country on the path of progress, instead of indulging in the politics of “grudge and malice”.
“Put all of us into jail if you have so much malice,” the AAP leader said.
The ED conducted raids against Jain on Monday as part of a money-laundering probe linked to a case of “hawala” dealings against him.
The raids, including that at Jain’s residential premises in Delhi and other locations, are being conducted as a “follow-up” exercise in the case, officials said.
Jain (57) was arrested by the ED on May 30 under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
He will be in the agency’s custody till June 9.
Replying to questions on targeted killings by terrorists in Kashmir, Singh alleged that the valley has been witnessing scenes similar to those of the 1990s because of the Modi government.
“Kashmir is witnessing another exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. They (Centre) had talked about the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits but the valley today is witnessing scenes similar to those seen in the 1990s,” the AAP leader said.
