Ranchi, July 18 : Jharkhand Urban Development Minister C.P. Singh on Wednesday said that Swami Agnivesh "is a fraud" and he conspired to get himself attacked.

"Agnivesh is a fraud. I know him for the last 40 years. No Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) worker was involved in the thrashing. He conspired to get himself thrashed," Singh said.

He alleged that Agnivesh used foreign funding to create unrest in the country. The Jharkhand Assembly on Wednesday witnessed disruption over the attack on Agnivesh.

The opposition members were angry with Singh for calling Agnivesh a "fraud" and "dalal".

Leader of Opposition Hemant Soren said: "The incident has taken place at the instruction of the state government. The state government had prior information regarding the thrashing by BJYM workers."

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Neelkanth Singh Munda tried to clam the opposition by saying that Chief Minister Raghubar Das had ordered probe. "Such an incident should have not have taken place."

Hemant Soren and Jharkhand Vias Morcha-Prajatantrik legislator Pradeep Yadav alleged that the arrested people were released following instructions from Ranchi.

 

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New Delhi (PTI): The Congress Monday slammed as "outrageous and unacceptable" Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi's remark that "secularism is a European concept" and demanded his immediate sacking.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh claimed that Ravi is "only a trial balloon floater" and is echoing what Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to get done.

Ramesh's remarks came after Ravi said secularism is a European concept that evolved after a conflict between the church and the king whereas Bharat is a dharma-centric nation and therefore, it was not part of the Constitution but added during Emergency by "one insecure prime minister".

The Tamil Nadu governor, while addressing an event in the Kanyakumari district on Sunday, said a lot of frauds have been committed against the people of the country and one of those was a wrong interpretation of secularism.

Reacting to the remarks, Ramesh said, "This man, who has taken an oath on the Constitution and who -- inspite of his drumbeating -- remains a Constitutional functionary, should be sacked forthwith. He is a disgrace."

"This is not the first outrageous and unacceptable statement he has made. But he is only a trial balloon floater. He is echoing what the non-biological PM wants to get done," the Congress leader said.

Ravi had also said, "What does secularism mean? Secularism is a European concept, secularism is not a Bharatiya concept."

Decades later, during Emergency (1975-77), "one insecure prime minister," introduced secularism in the Constitution in order to appease some sections of people, the Governor alleged.

Indira Gandhi was the prime minister during Emergency.

Ravi further said that secularism emerged in Europe as there was a fight between the church and the king and in order to end this conflict, which went on for a long time, this concept was evolved.

At the time of Independence, when the Constitution was being drafted, a discussion came up on secularism and the Constituent Assembly rejected it observing that Bharat is a dharma-centric country and there has been no conflict, similar to what was witnessed in Europe, Ravi had claimed.