Govt. embarrassed as Katheria attends VHP meet warning Muslims of 'final battle'

Minister of State for Human Resource and Development (HRD) Ram Shankar Katheria on Monday drew the ire of opposition parties after it was reported that he was a witness to a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) event in which Muslims were described as 'Rakshasas' and were warned of a 'final battle'.

Dubbing the incident as worrisome, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar said that such remarks have become common ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge.

"The country is heading towards fascism. It is worrisome. The kind of language being against a particular community would take this country towards fascism. Ever since Modi ji came to power, they are moving towards that," Anwar told ANI.

Janata Dal (United) leader K.C. Tyagi echoing similar sentiments said that such events exposed the true agenda of the RSS and Prime Minister Modi.

"This is the true agenda of Sangh and Prime Minister Modi. This is what they did in Gujarat. Gujarat model will become country's model only when such language and actions against minorities takes place," Tyagi told ANI.

According to reports, Katheria, along with BJP MP from Fatehpur Sikri Babu Lal, had recently attended a condolence meeting held for VHP worker Arun Mahaur, who was allegedly killed by Muslim youth, in Agra. During the meeting, several speakers threatened the Muslim community of revenge.

One of the speakers also reportedly asked the gathering to "corner Muslims and destroy the demons (rakshas).

A leading daily also quoted BJP Fatehpur Sikri MP as saying, "If you want to test Hindus, then let's decide a date and take on Muslims.