Engage in debate, not vandalism: Jaitley

He further condemned incidents of intolerance, saying it is against the traditions of our culture

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday expressed concern over the increasing incidents of intolerance and vandalism, which, he said, was an “extremely disturbing trend” and called for a “civilised mode” of discussing and debating issues.

Jaitley also said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has put on notice some of its leaders who had made controversial statements in the wake of the Dadri lynching incident, and claimed that the party has “outright shown our disagreement with these kinds of statements”. The finance minister’s statement comes in the wake of a series of incidents of violence and vandalism by rightwing elements, including the lynching of a 50-year-old Muslim by a Hindu mob in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, over suspicion that he had consumed beef. Jaitley disapproved of forcing cancellation of a music concert by Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali, blackening the face of Sudheendra Kulkarni in Mumbai and the ink attack on Jammu & Kashmir MLA in Delhi by a Hindu fringe outfit.

Some of the BJP leaders, including Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, had given interviews or made public statements that were criticised for ostensibly supporting the September 28 Dadri incident. On Sunday, BJP President Amit Shah had apparently reprimanded Khattar, Lok Sabha members Sakshi Maharaj and Sanjeev Balyan, Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma and UP MLA Sangeet Som for their statements. In an interview to public broadcaster Doordarshan, the minister said: “All right-thinking sections will have to distance themselves from these kinds of methodologies.”

Jaitley said those who use these methods, including copy cat vandalism, must also "introspect" whether they are adding to the quality of Indian democracy or are they really reducing the credibility of India as a country before the eyes of the world itself.

Noting that it was “an extremely disturbing trend” where some people have been resorting to vandalism as an instrument of registering their protest or conveying their views, the minister said it was quite possible that in a large country like India there may be “divergent views” on many subjects.

"But we had a tradition of civility in conveying those different opinions. Also particularly because some of these issues are extremely serious," he said.

The government at the Centre is also concerned over the increasing protests in Kashmir after a truck conductor from Kashmir was killed in a petrol bomb attack by a mob in Jammu on the suspicion of smuggling a cow for slaughter, and killing of a Muslim youth in Himachal Pradesh again on suspicion on smuggling of cows.

On Shiv Sena activists storming the office of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that forced the cancellation of a meeting of the BCCI chief Shashank Manohar with his Pakistani counterpart Shahryar Khan, Jaitley said he would urge the BJP ally that it must realise that it is part of central and state governments and it has a responsibility.

"Issues like relations with neighbouring countries will have to be conducted, on the basis of a very well-thought out strategy. They can't be conducted in a manner on the streets itself. That can't decide how we deal with out neighbouring countries. And, therefore, I think it is extremely important that every political party, including my friends in the Shiv Sena, realise the importance of this," he said. Asked about the tactics employed by the Sena to register protests, he said the same standard of civility applied to all.

On statements by BJP MLA Som and others, Jaitley said: "You see, after the prime minister's comment, the president (Amit Shah) had called the three gentlemen."

He has very firmly told them that their statements were not appreciated by the party at all. "They have been put on notice. Therefore, I am sure that they corrected themselves."

He said as a political organisation, as a party and as a government, "our spokesmen are acting with utmost restraint and by various statements including the present one I am making to you we have outright shown our disagreement with these kinds of statements". Jaitley said some people within the political space who resort to some kind of sensationalism in the media to create a constituency for themselves. "Now, we have been able to identify people from their tactics and, therefore, the party has already put these people to notice. If somebody has made an error in the past, I am sure he will correct himself," he said.

The finance minister said the media has a national role to play and should not allow it to be used as an oxygen by people indulging in these "outlandish behaviour". "While we have a responsibility in public space to make sure that we distance from this kind of behaviour, the kind of publicity that they get should also not be such that this leads to copycat vandalism which we have seen in the last few days," he said.

Leading newspapers across the world, including The Economist and New York Times, have written editorials about the Dadri incident and the rising incidents of intolerance in India. Several writers have returned their Sahitya Akademi and Padma awards to protest murders of writers in Karnataka and Maharashtra.

On Monday, President Pranab Mukherjee expressed apprehension about whether tolerance and acceptance of dissent are on the wane. In his Durga Puja greetings, the President said: “Let us pray to the Universal Mother to instill in us a spirit of brotherhood and love for all. May this festival strengthen the moral foundations of our society and turn us away from all that divides and destroys.”