Intolerance debate: Cong banned books to protect image of dynasty, says Meenakshi Lekhi

New Delhi: BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi on Monday lambasted the Congress party while also targetting the ones resorting to return their awards to highlight the ‘intolerance’ in the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. Hitting out at the Congress during the debate on intolerance in the Lok Sabha, Lekhi also accused Congress governments of the past of banning some books “to protect the image of dynasty”. [caption id=“attachment_2527352” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Meenakshi Lekhi. Ibnlive[/caption] About returning their awards to protest incidents of “intolerance” during National Democratic Alliance government, Lekhi sought to know “why these intellectuals did not do so after anti-Sikh riots in 1984? Why not even after communal violence in Meerut and Muzaffarnagar?. She referred to attack on Professor TJ Joseph in Kerala in 2010 in which his hand was chopped off. Lekhi also referred to killing of writer MM Kalburgi in Karnataka and that of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in Maharashtra in August 2013, saying these had taken place during Congress rule in these states. “Award-wapsi brigade never saw the point against what they are protesting,” she said. She said India was a law-abiding society and will run by the rule of law. In a veiled attack on the Nehru-Gandhi family, Lekhi said: “Some bans were imposed (on books by Congress governments) to protect image of the dynasty.” Lekhi alleged that thousands of people had been killed during the Left rule in West Bengal. “Will murders keep taking place in the name of secularism?” She slammed Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for his reported remarks that BJP central leaders could not pronounce names of their local leaders correctly and it was an invasion by Hindi-speaking people in Assam. Referring to the Rajiv Gandhi government enacting the law to annul the Shah Bano judgment, Lekhi said: “Justice was not done to those women in the name of secularism.” She also said that Congress members were present during a gathering in Amritsar district earlier this month where separatist slogans were raised. IANS