Following External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s statement to make the Bhagwad Gita India’s national scripture. Even before the controversy around Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti’s controversial remarks could die down, Sushma Swaraj is now facing the opposition fire for the proposal.
CPI leader D Raja hit out hard and said that such statements “damage the secular fabric of the democracy. It is a dangerous thing”. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also said that Sushma Swaraj should think of the Constitution. “She should think we believe in various religions. Other religions will also raise the voice that their holy book should be made national books,” she said.
Reacting to Swaraj’s remarks, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) said only the Constitution is the “Holy Book” in a democracy while Congress called her statement “frivolous”.
Not just the opponents, National Democratic Alliance’s partner in Tamil Nadu, PMK also slammed Sushma’s statements. “Gita is a holy book for one sect. It is improper to thrust it on all people in a secular country. He also says the move would strengthen arguments that that Modi government is turning India into a Hindu country,” PMK chief Ramadoss said.
However, the BJP defended the minister saying that there was nothing wrong in her comments. “There is nothing wrong in what Sushma Swaraj has said. What is wrong in having a debate on it,” BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
“I agree with what Sushmaji has said. Gita must be given the status of our national scripture,” Shiv Sena MP Ananth Gete said.
Pressing for the Centre to declare Bhagwad Gita as a ‘Rashtriya Granth’ (national scripture), External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today only a formality remained to be done in this regard, triggering a controversy with Trinamool Congress saying Constitution is the “Holy Book” in a democracy.
Swaraj was speaking at ‘Gita Prerna Mahotsav’, organised “to celebrate 5,151 years of religious book Gita” at the Red Fort Maidan here where VHP President Ashok Singhal said Prime Minis .
With PTI inputs