BJP accuses Rahul of denigrating India from foreign soil
New Delhi, Aug 23 : The BJP on Thursday came down heavily on Rahul Gandhi for denigrating the country on foreign soil, accusing him of justifying Islamic State (IS) and making comparisons with India.
Addressing a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra sought an explanation from Rahul Gandhi on his remarks during an event in Hamburg in Germany on Wednesday, and charged him with presenting the country in a bad light while touching upon issues that had "wider and dangerous ramifications".
"You tried to justify terrorism. You tried to justify IS (Islamic State). There can be nothing more ignominious and perturbing than this. It is very sad. You call yourself a leader of the country. You are a parliamentarian and you mock India from a foreign soil.
"You are giving an excuse for ISIS. This is a mockery of our minorities. You have tried to denigrate the minorities of the great country. You have questioned them. Your submission that if jobs are not available for minorities of the country, they will sell thier soul to an alternative idea of IS, which is deplorable and for which you have to explain before the country. We cannot forgive you," Patra said.
The BJP leader was reacting to Congress chief's criticism of the government by citing the example of IS to say that exclusion of a large number of people from the development process could lead to the creation of terrorist groups in the world.
Gandhi had said that the US while invading Iraq, had stopped a tribe, Tikriti network, from getting government and army jobs and later the tribe linked up with other groups. He referred to incidents of lynching and attacks on Dalits, saying people in India were angry and the ruling alliance was weakening "support structures" meant for the weaker sections.
Rebutting Gandhi's charge, Patra said instead the Modi government has strengthened the structures meant for the weaker sections.
"You have false estimate of India and its potential. You are saying that India's role will remin only to balance between US and the China. Is this what is your estimate for India. Is this what you estimate the potential of 125 crore Indians?," he asked.
Responding to Rahul Gandhi's charge that the level of violence has increased in India and for his call for a change in the attitude of Indian men at the way they treated women, Patra hit out at Gandhi saying, "On women's safety issue you blamed the Indian culture. You could have blamed some mindset but how can you blame the Indian culture for it.
"You have tried to denigrate the Indian culture. This country accepted Sonia Gandhi, who headed the Congress party for 19 long years and remain proxy prime minister for 10 years. Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi should come out and speak. How can they point out India's great culture."
Patra said Gandhi's attacks were due to his frustration of his party being thrown out of power.
"When we have a success story of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, your frustration is coming out with sense of entitlement of Gandhi family is quite understandable.
"This is a democratic country. You can always speak about the policies of the government anywhere in this world but for God's sake when you denigrate the country, you denigrate not the policies in a wrong way. But when you speak against the culture of this great country and when you give justification to terrorism, it is a serious issue. You should come out and clarify," he said.
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
