'Condemnable, despicable': Dhankhar on Rahul's Sikh remarks
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday became the topmost constitutional functionary to launch a veiled attack on Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for his remarks about alleged Sikh anxieties at home.
The Vice President, addressing the third batch of Rajya Sabha internship programme, on Thursday said nothing could be more despicable that becoming part of the enemies of the nation.
Rahul Gandhi made his remarks in US' Virginia while speaking to the Indian diaspora. He looked at a turbaned Sikh and said the fight in India was about whether a Sikh would be allowed to wear a turban, a kada and go to a gurdwara.
Pro-Khalistan banned terror outfit Sikhs for Justice on Wednesday issued a statement backing Rahul's remarks about Sikh anxieties using the statements of the Leader of Opposition to justify its call for a Khalistan referendum.
“Every Indian outside the country has to be an ambassador of this nation. How painful. One who holds a constitutional position is doing just the reverse of it. Nothing can be more condemnable, despicable and intolerable that you become part of enemies of the nation. They do not understand the value of freedom,” the VP said.
Dhankhar appealed to the media to take note of the national sentiment and said no Indian will ever approve of the sacrilege of national values, and no Indian will ever approve that we compromise nationalism or engage enemies.
“Some people have no idea what our Constitution says. Reservation is embedded in our Constitution. It is there by way of affirmative action. It is a vibrant facet of our Constitution! Some people go outside the country and make light of it," Dhankhar said.
He asked, “How can anyone in his senses make a claim that a person cannot go to a place of worship in his own place?”
“I have no words to condemn this. This is impropriety in its extremity,” a visibly upset VP said cautioning against what he described as “loose cannons, powered by enemies of India, fuelled by interests that want to create unrest in the country.”
Dhankhar asked the young interns to neutralise divisive tendencies.
