Divisive forces raising their ugly head again: Cong MP

Flaying the Citizenship Amendment Act, Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari here on Saturday said divisive forces were once again raising their head.

Taking part in a discussion on the topic, "Ek aur Satyagraha Bharat ki Aatma ke Liye", at the Military Literature Festival here, Tewari said at the time of the Partition in 1947, the then Union government had opted for a secular structure to "keep divisive forces" in check.

"But these very forces are raising their ugly head again," said a state government release quoting Tewari.

Tewari said in accordance with international laws, giving shelter to refugees without any religious bias was the duty of every country as there was a difference between them and illegal immigrants.

In another session on "Jingoism and Hyper Nationalism - An Indian Perspective", TMC MP Mahua Moitra said Indian ethos was "all about moderation and will certainly endure the present onslaught by communal forces".

A state government release quoting Moitra said she rejected the idea of nationalism "thrust upon" by the Centre.

"The opposition has been caught unawares with unleashing of hate and communal agenda by the BJP and called for a comprehensive counter narrative to negate nefarious designs of these inimical forces," she said.

Veteran journalist Mark Tully too said the whole world was witnessing a "rising tide of nationalism", which has the potential of being "misused for political gains".

A state government release quoting RSS thinker Desh Ratan Nigam stated that it was only with the 42nd Amendment in 1976 that the word secular was inserted in the Constitution during the Emergency.

In another discussion on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Congress MP Tewari said the incident was the turning point in India's freedom struggle after which the leaders at that time resolved not to accept the British repression anymore.

Tewari stressed the need for more research on the topic in the discussion moderated by author Kishwar Desai and panelists Manoj Joshi, Walter Reid and Prof Sukhdev Singh Sohal, said a Punjab government release.

The Congress leader said the repression of the British imperialism was on its heights in those days and the civil unrest was continuously being suppressed by them.

"The Jallianwala Bagh massacre was the turning point in India's freedom struggle after which the leaders at that time resolved not to accept the repression of the British imperialism anymore," he said.

He added that the Jallianwala Bagh incident did not occur all of a sudden.

"It was a part of the continuous suppression by the British," he said.

The MP said the death count during the massacre was assessed by experts with 1,560 bullets fired on the day of Baisakhi in in 1919 when unarmed people had gathered in Amritsar.

Terming it terrible, Kishwar Desai said the massacre was the worst example of colonial violence.