New Delhi: While terming the incident of cow slaughter in Kerala 'reprehensible' and 'absolutely condemnable', the Congress today accused the BJP of trying to regressively play politics of polarisation to shamelessly divert attention from its Anti Dalit atrocities and practice of untouchability by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. In a statement here, AICC media in charge Randeep Surjewala said, 'India's ethos and Congress party’s culture abjures any kind of violence or barbarism against every living being much less the ‘cow’, which has a special place in the hearts and mind of people of India.
The horrific incident in Kerala is reprehensible and absolutely condemnable. Such action is alien to our way of life. Such elements have no place in the Congress party. The Youth Congress has, therefore, suspended the so called activists. None less than Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has conclusively condemned this cruel incident.' He, however, charged the BJP with trying to regressively play politics of polarization to shamelessly divert attention from its Anti Dalit atrocities and practice of untouchability by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath.
'The BJP, however, is trying to regressively play politics of polarization to shamelessly divert attention from its Anti Dalit atrocities and practice of untouchability by UP CM. It is tragic that UP CM Adityanath’s administration forced the poorest of the poor of Dalit community of ‘Musahar’ to first bathe with soap, sprinkle perfume so as to allegedly avoid the odor emanating from their ‘dirty clothes’, as the UP CM visited them,' he said. Posing several questions to the BJP, he asked for the party's stand on the slaughterhouses run in Goa jointly by the Union Government and Goa BJP government.
He also asked for BJP's stand on the statement by Minister of state for Home Kiren Rijiju in support of beef eating and that by BJP presidents of Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram reiterating their commitment to sale of beef at subsidised rates. Claiming that Sangeet Som, a senior cabinet minister in the UP government, founded Al-Dua Food Processing Private Ltd along with others in 2005 to deal in meat and meat products, Mr Surjewala asked for the UP CM's opinion on the issue.
He also wanted to know the opinion of the BJP president on the fact that under BJP government's watch, bovine/beef exports have jumped nearly 70 per cent. Earlier, addressing a press conference, AICC spokesperson Manish Tewari, reacting to the statement by Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad condemning the incident of cow slaughter by alleged youth Congress activists, said, 'Before the former spokesperson of the BJP starts pointing fingers at the people, he should understand that when you point one finger at somebody, three gets pointed back towards you and therefore, I think the BJP needs to introspect what has been happening in UP is extremely reprehensible, it is extremely disturbing.
Not only do you have the specter of caste violence engulfing the state but more importantly the incident which has come to light today where two young women were allegedly molested by a gang of 14 men. It just goes to underscore and underline the complete 'Jungle Raj' which is prevailing in Uttar Pradesh. Therefore, I think it is important for the BJP both at the national level and at the state level to see what is going on in UP and how BJP-ruled state is drifting into chaos, into lawlessness and descending into anarchy.' At the same time, he said that the Congress vice-president, in a tweet yesterday, had said that the incident is "thoughtless, barbaric and completely unacceptable" to him and the Congress party. (UNI)