New Delhi, March 30 Launching a sharp attack on the BJP, National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Monday alleged that the ruling party wants to consign India to "right-wing extremism" and asked when will "institutionalized extremism" against Muslims and minorities be discussed in Parliament.
Participating in a discussion in the Lok Sabha on 'Efforts to free the country from left-wing extremism (LWE)', Mehdi said the government wants to end left-wing extremism even as "right-wing extremism continues to rise".
"You don't want to free India from right-wing extremism, you want to consign India to right-wing extremism. Is extremism only connected with left-wing or Muslims. We want this country to be free of extremism -- be it in the name of Muslims or in the name of Hindutva. We want peace, justice, rule of law and normalcy. We all have this dream but why is their bias in your dream, why is it agenda-driven," the Srinagar MP said.
"As statistics show, one kind of extremism helps your political shop to prosper," he said.
Mehdi said extremism rises from injustice and asked whether that injustice has been addressed.
"My father was killed due to one form of extremism. We will fight that extremism. But the injustice of society has to be finished," he said.
"When will institutionalised extremism against Muslims and minorities be discussed. We are told that we are from outside, from Pakistan, there should be our economic boycott, a CM says there should be our economic boycott.
"We are told we will change demography; vigilantism has increased in name of cow protection, love jihad...victims are harassed institutionally. When will Hindutva extremism be discussed?" the MP from Jammu and Kashmir said.
Participating in the discussion, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi hit out at Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde for his remarks hailing the government for successfully combating LWE.
"All those individuals associated with left-wing extremism who are surrendering their weapons today are not, in fact, abandoning their ideology. They are laying down their arms, yet they remain steadfast in their ideological convictions. And if they are not renouncing their ideology, then what exactly is the achievement you claim to have secured?" Owaisi said.
"Even today, those individuals remain committed to their ideology," he added.
"I wish to ask the government: Will right-wing extremism now assume leadership over left-wing extremism? Furthermore, I seek to know: While a symbolic position has been bestowed upon a tribal individual, what provisions have been made regarding grassroots-level leadership?" he said.
"The use of fake encounters, the demolition of homes, and the creation of a hostile atmosphere by stripping away the dignity of tribal communities and Muslims -- these are the actions being perpetrated by organizations that subscribe to extremist radicalism, and this very government is extending its support to them," he alleged.
Will you take measures to curb this extremist radicalism, Owaisi asked.
"There is a significant Muslim population, many of whom are currently young. If your own chief minister publicly suggests that they be paid two rupees less (in wages), such rhetoric creates an environment that compels them to leave Assam.
"This is unacceptable; this, too, constitutes a form of extremism—one that deserves unequivocal condemnation," the AIMIM leader said.
Participating in the debate, BJP's Nishikant Dubey said this is fundamentally an ideological battle.
"On April 1, 1949, Jawaharlal Nehru wrote to all the chief ministers, stating that the greatest challenge facing this nation was the 'Communist problem' and urging them to suppress it, as it would impede the country's development," Dubey said.
Subsequently, the Congress, in alliance with the CPI, ensured the election of V V Giri as President, he said, adding that it was in the aftermath of this event that Naxalism emerged.
"It was the Congress party that abolished Article 339—the provision safeguarding the most fundamental rights of tribal communities. In the dead of night, in 1976—during the imposition of the Emergency—this Article was the very first to be repealed, thereby stripping away the rights of all tribal people," he said, attacking the Congress.
He hailed the government for carrying out the "shraadh (last rites)" of Naxalism.
