New Delhi, April 23: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi on associating spirituality with cleaning of toilets and also took a jibe at him on frying of 'pakodas'.
"The Prime Minister sees spirituality in cleaning of toilets and making 'pakodas'. But, for Modi, becoming the Prime Minister only is spirituality," the Congress leader said at the nationwide 'Save the Constitution' campaign launched here.
Quoting Modi from his book "Karmyogi", Gandhi said: "This quote reflects his thinking and ideology."
The Congress leader further quoted Modi as saying: "What is the spirituality of a person working to clean toilets? Has anyone experienced the spirituality of a man of the Valmiki samaj, who has to remove human excreta and dirt everyday.
"I do not believe that he accepted the task merely to fill his belly. He would not have stayed for so long in that profession, and certainly not from generation to generation. Probably, sometime for happiness of God and society, he would have thought it is his responsibility to keep the environment clean and he accepted the work and continues to do the work for generations out of his spirituality."
Gandhi said: "This is the thinking of our Prime Minister -- 'a person from the Valmiki community who cleans the toilet doesn't do it to fill his stomach but for spirituality'. Every poor and every person has to understand -- this is our PM's thinking."
Gandhi said that the Dalits were angry with Modi because of this ideology.
"You may garland B.R. Ambedkar's statue or a picture, but with such thinking you can never respect him. And every Dalit understands this. They know that this person (Modi) has no place for Dalits, weaker sections, and women, in his heart," the Congress chief said.
Rahul Gandhi also claimed that atrocities on Dalits were increasing in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and elsewhere. "They are being crushed, lynched, and attacked."
He said: "There is violence against Dalits in Una (in Gujarat), and the man (Modi) who sees spirituality in cleaning of toilets doesn't speak even a word. When we raised our voice, after three days, he (Modi) came on stage and tears rolled down."
Prompted by a party worker on the issue of the BJP promise to create two crore jobs every year if the party came to power, Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at the Prime Minister: "There is spirituality in making 'pakodas' also -- you should understand this. This is the truth in the country."
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Bhopal gas tragedy: Effects of leak seen in next generation of survivors, says ex-forensic doctor
Bhopal (PTI): The effects of poisonous gases that leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal 40 years ago were seen in the next generations of those who survived the tragedy, a former government forensic doctor has said.
At least 3,787 people were killed, and more than five lakh were affected after a toxic gas leaked from the pesticide factory in the city on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984.
Speaking at an event held by organisations of gas tragedy survivors on Saturday, Dr D K Satpathy, former head of the forensics department of Bhopal's Gandhi Medical College, said he performed 875 post-mortems on the first day of the disaster and witnessed 18,000 autopsies the next five years.
Sathpathy claimed Union Carbide had denied questions about the effects of poisonous gases on unborn children of women survivors and said effects would not cross the placental barrier in the womb in any condition.
He said blood samples of pregnant women who died in the tragedy were examined, and it was found that 50 per cent of poisonous substances found in the mother were also found in the child in her womb.
Children born to surviving mothers had the poisonous substances in their system, and this affected the health of the next generation, Sathpathy claimed and questioned why research on this was stopped.
Such effects will continue for generations, he said.
Satpathy said it was said that MIC gas leaked from the Union Carbide plant, and when it came in contact with water, thousands of gases were formed, and some of these caused cancer, blood pressure and liver damage.
Rachna Dhingra of Bhopal Group for Information and Action said Satpathy, who carried out most autopsies, and other first responders in the 1984 disaster, including the senior doctors in the emergency ward and persons involved in mass burials, narrated their experiences during the event.
Rashida Bee, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh, a poster exhibition covering every aspect of the disaster will be held till December 4 to mark the 40th anniversary of the tragedy.
An anniversary rally will be organised, with focus on global corporate crimes such as industrial pollution and climate change, she said.
