New Delhi: Opposition today raked up in Rajya Sabha the "intolerance" issue to target the government which said "some amount" of intolerance has been there in the society even before the NDA rule which needed to be identified and dealt with firmly, instead of generalising it.
Members of the opposition parties like Congress, NCP and BSP sought to corner the government citing incidents of violence against minorities and dalits to suggest "anarchy" and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take strict action against ruling party members for "provocative" comments.
BSP chief Mayawati went to the extent of saying that Union Minister V K Singh should be "jailed" for his 'dog' remarks after the killing of two Dalit children in Haryana.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said such incidents "have been happening" and not started overnight after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister.
"There is some amount of intolerance in the society, in different areas. That has to be identified, it has to be localised, it has to be dealt with firmly. Instead of that, we are making it generalised," he said as he referred to instances of killing of dalits and writers in certain states.
"Some people making out of turn statement, we have to condemn, we have to isolate them... they have to be condemnd and disowned," he said.
He welcomed senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's remarks that banning of Salman Rushdie's novel 'The Satanic Verses' by the Rajiv Gandhi government was "wrong".
"There are two things, one, people writing the books, they should not affect the sentiments of the people, they should not arouse social tension, but at the same time, freedom of expression and freedom of speech, people have got right. But there has to be broad consensus about how do we go about it," he said.
While banning Salman Rushdie's book draws cheers, the same on a book on Shivaji draws protests, he said, adding that "different angles are coming, Hindu angle, Muslim angle... Let there be policy for banning books, or films."
Naidu said "let us all be tolerant to each other and than tolerant to verdict of the people. ... Respecting the mandate of the people was the biggest form of tolerance."
Giving an example, he said 'x' has been mandated to rule Tamil Nadu, 'y' mandated to rule West Bengal. "We have to respect it."
Similarly, the mandate of people of Bihar to Nitish Kumar with support of Lalu Prasad has to be respected. "There is no choice," he said.
Naidu appealed for a broad consensus among political parties, rising above narrow point-scoring about achievements of one government over the other.
Mayawati alleged that "an atmosphere of intolerance and extremism on a large scale is prevalent under the NDA government, which is badly affecting minorities especially Muslims. The incident of Dadri is a living example of it."
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Seeking to paint the government as anti-Dalit and anti minority, the BSP chief rejected the pro-Ambedkar pitch of the BJP raising questions over its committment to safeguard Constitutional values.
Taking strong objection to Singh's 'dog' remarks after killing to two Dalit children in Haryana, Mayawati said he should be dropped from the Council of Ministers and "sent to jail as such people deserve to be in jail and not in Parliament".
She also debunked Congress' recent attempts to reach out to Dalits by observing Ambedkar's anniversary citing instances of how Congress had "opposed" the Dalit icon in past.
Referring to elections for the members of the Constituent Assembly to frame the Constituion, she said that Ambedkar wanted to get elected from Maharashtra but Congress and some Hindu organizations were opposing him.
Using terms like 'BJP and company' and 'Congress and comapany', she targetted both the major parties on the issue of their committment to Ambedkar and Dalits empowerment.
Alleging rise in "intolerance, communalism and anarchy" in the country after NDA came to power, she said that the Prime Minister is "quiet" while his Cabinet colleages and members from BJP and affilliated organizations make controversial remarks.
Opposition members also referred to the the return of awards by intellectuals, writers and artistes, saying the majority should not discriminate against the minority.
Praful Patel (NCP) said the administration cannot remain quiet saying these were "stray incidents" and added that individual views will be reflected as government's views if these were not contradicted properly.
"Therefore you have to take care of them," he said, adding that "the right balance should be drawn and the right steps be taken so that nobody witnesses intolerance in the country".
Ashwani Kumar (Congress) said there was 'intolerance and anarchy' in the country as the "basic tenets of Constitution are challenged today'.
He said, "We have different kind of anarchy...and it is increasing. You are creating an atmosphere where nobody has courage to express their views. Self respect is at stake. Don't take away the rights from people."
K T S Tulsi (Nominated) said liberal and secular values of this country have made it a great nation and expressed surprise that "the Home Minister was not outraged by intolerance but by secularism". He also said Indian Muslims have been loyal and patriotic citizens because of secularism.
Tulsi said a few incidents did create a sense of fear among sensitive artistes and they expressed their dissent in the form of returning the awards.
"I am disappointed with the political stance given to the satyagraha of poets, writers, historians on intolerance. Physical actions can never be an answer to intolerance... "A political twist is given to return of awards, as the tipping point for them was the brutal killing of a man at Dadri on rumours. They are protesting now because the tipping point has reached," he said.
Asking the government to engage with writers and not write them off, he said "understand them, but don't abuse them of a manufactured protest."
Delivering his maiden speech, M J Akbar (BJP) said Ambedkar was disappointed with then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru after the historic "objective resolution" was passed in the Constituent Assembly in 1946.
"On December 17, 1946, Ambedkar said about Nehru: 'It was disppointing. I expected him to go further. There cannot be any rights without remedy'."
Talking about making India a modern nation, Akbar said modernity, faith equality, gender equality and economic equity -- are key qualities which are required for making the country a modern nation.
Bhupinder Singh (BJD) said the Dadri incident in which two Dalit children were killed was not an insignificant one and this was time for introspection. He said there have been assaults on the Constitution and this should be checked.
"It is a shame that we could not make a uniform education policy in the country...this could have minimised incidents like Dadri," he said.
Majeed Memon (NCP) said that during the last 18 months, there is a sense of insecurity among a large number of citizens including Dalits and Muslims in the wake of onslaught whether in the name of 'love jihad', 'ghar wapsi', the Dadri incident or the murders of activists like Narendra Dabholkar and M M Kalburgi.
"There have been highly objectionable statements by Union Ministers" which has fuelled the sense of insecurity and several eminent scholars who returned their awards in anguish were unfortunately were branded "anti-nationals" and "traitors", he said.
