Tell ministers to think before speaking: Sule to Rajnath

Targeting the government on the intolerance issue, NCP parliamentarian Supriya Sule on Tuesday asked Home Minister Rajnath Singh to advise all ministers to think before speaking.

Participating in the debate on intolerance in the Lok Sabha, the Nationalist Congress Party member from Baramati said her state Maharashtra was also facing intolerance under the BJP-Shiv Sena government.

Referring to an attack on columnist Sudheendra Kulkarni by alleged Shiv Sena activists for organising a former Pakistani minister's book launch in Mumbai and the cancellation of concerts of Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali, Sule said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should have intervened effectively.

She alleged that the senior BJP leadership had not stopped party members from making controversial remarks.

"Rajnath Singh ji, you had asked for suggestions. I am giving you one: please ask your ministers to think before they speak," she said, adding that "make sure they don't speak out of context".

She said co-existence was a better expression then tolerance.

Taking part in the debate, BJP member Kirron Kher said intellectuals and writers did not think of returning their awards after the forced exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley and after the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.

She referred to the emergency imposed during the Indira Gandhi government and said any protest over forcible sterilisation was muzzled.

Kher said the film industry "faced intolerance during Congress rule" and singer Kishore Kumar's songs were banned from All India Radio after he refused to sing at a Congress event.

Referring to remarks by actors Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan over intolerance, she said they lead privileged lives.

Kher said noted actor Amitabh Bachchan's invitation to a film festival was withdrawn during the rule of the Congress in Goa.

She said those who cannot take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his developent agenda were seeking to pull him down.

Congress leader and former minister Shashi Tharoor said there should not only be respect for differences but acceptance of differences.

"You cannot (sell) 'Make in India' abroad while condoning 'Hate in India' at home," he said.

Tharoor said Modi acted with responsibility when blasts took place at his rally venue in Patna before the Lok Sabha polls and told people to go home in peace.

"What has happened to that Narnendra Modi? Where has his voice gone? Have you forgotten the policy to take everyone along?" Tharoor asked.

Samajwadi Party member Dharmendra Yadav said Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma made "provocative statements" over the Dadri lynching incident.

Referring to intellectuals and artistes who have returned their awards in protest against intolerance, he said they were not members of the Samajwadi Party.

He said President Pranab Mukherjee has also repeatedly emphasised on the country's diversity and its spirit of tolerance.

Prem Singh Chandumajra of the Shiromani Akali Dal targeted the Congress, saying people had displayed "maximum tolerance" during emergency.

He also accused the Congress of disrespecting the verdict of the people and dislodging his party's governments in the past for "political reasons".