Rahul's riot victims remark should be 'warning' to stay united: Rita Bahuguna

Bahuguna also criticize the Sangh Parivar's role in the Muzaffarnagar riots

Uttar Pradesh Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi on Friday said party vice president Rahul Gandhi's remark on Muslim riot victims being approached by Pakistan intelligence, should be a warning to people to stay united.

"Rahul Gandhi made the statement because there is not only an international linkage to the communal violence, but also an internal hand in the riots, which India needs to save itself from," Bahuguna said.

"He made the statement to stress on the need for communal unity within the country to take India forward. In one way, Rahul Gandhi has given a warning that international agencies will try to take advantage of communal tensions, but India needs to stand united," Bahuguna added.

Bahuguna also used the opportunity to criticize the Sangh Parivar's role in the Muzaffarnagar riots, and reiterated that the violence was a combination of internal actors and potential external actors.

"In the Muzaffarnagar riots, several outside forces acted. The Sangh Parivar was involved, and everybody has seen how wrong videos were uploaded on the internet, for which, three of their leaders are in jail today for inciting communal sentiment among Hindus there. The Muzaffarnagar riots have tainted India's history, but, it is also true that Pakistan always tries to create instability in India," she said.

On Thursday, while maintaining his claim that the BJP has been igniting communal fires across the country, Gandhi revealed at a rally in Indore that 10 to 15 Muslim boys, who had lost their families in the recent riots in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, are being contacted by Pakistani intelligence.

"Day before yesterday, a police officer came to my office. He told me that in Muzaffarnagar there are 10 to 15 Muslim boys, who have lost their brothers and sisters in the riots. He told me that people from the Pakistan intelligence agencies are starting to talk to surviving victims of Muzaffarnagar. The police officer told me that he is trying to dissuade the youth," Gandhi said in Indore.

Targetting the BJP, the Congress number two alleged that the opposition party is solely interested in gathering votes, while it is left to the ruling party to cool down tempers that arise in the aftermath of communal violence.

Violence broke out in the Kawal area of Muzaffarnagar on August 27, when members of a community returning from a panchayat meeting in Naglabadhod, three kilometres from Kawal, clashed with members of another community.