Sonia Gandhi Leads Congress March Against Intolerance to Rashtrapati Bhawan

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Nov 03, 2015:  Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi led the party’s leaders and parliamentarians in a march to the President’s House Rashtrapati Bhavan this afternoon to flag what they call rising intolerance.

 

After leading a protest march of party lawmakers to Rashtrapati Bhawan, Congress president Sonia Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, accusing him of "silence" amid "an atmosphere of fear, intolerance and threat" that she alleged was being scripted by organisations associated with the government.

In a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee, Mrs Gandhi said, her party has expressed serious concern over "unfortunate incidents that are happening as a part of a well-planned strategy to divide our society on purpose."

 

The march comes after Mrs Gandhi met President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday evening for a one-on-one meeting. The Congress is expected to submit a memorandum to the President urging him to use his Constitutional powers to ensure an end to the "the atmosphere of intolerance, intemperate behaviour, violence and communal polarisation," say Congress sources.

The Delhi Police, meanwhile, informed the Congress it would allow only 125 people to participate in the march. The stretch that the party intends to march on, from Parliament to the President’s House, is under prohibitory orders, disallowing assembly of more than 10 people.

 

 

 

"Some organisations and people associated with the government or a part of Modi Ji’s government are trying to attack the plurality of the country and promoting intolerance," she said, adding, "The President had expressed his opinion, but PM is silent which clearly shows that he approves of such incidents."

Her son and deputy Rahul Gandhi, who also marched alongside Mrs Gandhi from Parliament House to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, said, "A serving minister in the government calls two children who were burnt to death, dogs. People are being lynched, but PM stays silent."
 
As it began its march, the Congress had complained that the government was "muzzling dissent" by restricting the delegation to only 125 people.

A raging debate on intolerance is on after incidents like the murder of rationalists and mob killings over beef-eating or cow slaughter rumours. A number of writers, filmmakers and others have returned prestigious awards to protest against what they have called the Prime Minister’s "silence."

On Monday, Mrs Gandhi had held a one-on-one meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee, who has in the last month spoken on at least three different occasions, emphasising the need for preserving pluralism, tolerance and multiplicity.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today asserted that, "This country has never been and will never be intolerant."

"There is peace and harmony in the country. There have been aberrations, but it is not right to make them an issue like this. Where is the intolerance? We are the most vibrant democracy. The atmosphere will not change only by talking. If some incident happens like the one in Karnataka, which is Congress-ruled, you cannot link it to the central government to attack. That is not fair," Mr Jaitley said.