PM must speak against growing intolerance: Punia

National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) chairman P.L. Punia has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'must open his mouth' over the growing intolerance in the country as the current state has been prevalent after the NDA government came to power at the center.

"After the BJP- led NDA government came into power at the center, serious intolerance erupted in a large way. The Prime Minister remained silent on the grave issue," Punia told reporters in the state secretariat.

"Throughout the country, several incidents of intolerance and violence against the weaker sections of people are taking place but Prime Minister Modi remained silent," he added.

A team of NCSC led by Punia came to Tripura on Thursday on a three-day visit to study the state government's programme and schemes for the scheduled caste people.

The NCSC chief said that the literary world led by India's most prominent writers, scientists, poets, artists, performers and intellectuals are agitating and returning their awards against the growing intolerance, and the BJP termed this as 'Congress politics'.

"BJP supporters accused the agitating intellectuals as Congress people, this is unjustified. The Prime Minister must open his mouth against the serious situation of intolerance in India," Punia said.

"Such incidents of intolerance never happened in India before. Such occurrence of intolerance never happened during the regime of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee," he said adding that the people of the country expect reaction from the Prime Minister but it is very unfortunate that he maintains his silence on it.