New Delhi: “Seeking proof for the Balakot air strikes is akin to asking one’s mother for a DNA test.”
“Those who refuse to say Vande Mataram have no right to live in India”.
“The opposition is the villain that helps PM Narendra Modi emerge as a hero.”
Union Minister of State Pratap Sarangi tore into the opposition as he made his maiden speech in Parliament Monday, evoking excited desk thumps from his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) colleagues as he drew a Ramayan analogy in praise of PM Modi.
In a multi-lingual speech delivered in Hindi, Sanskrit, Odiya, Bengali as well as English, peppered with shlokas, Sarangi said the country will not tolerate the “tukde-tukde gang”.
“’Pakistan zindabad‘, ‘Afzal Guru zindabad‘, ‘hum sharminda hai Afzal tera qatil zinda hai‘. Ye kehne waalo ko desh mai rehne ka adhikar hai (Do people who praise Pakistan and Afzal Guru have the right to live in India)?” he said.
“Kaun inko support karta hai, introspect karo. Jinko humara priya pawan bhoomi se pyaar nahi, jinko Bharat ki azaadi aur akhandata sweekar nahi, jinko Bharat ki ‘vande mataram’ sweekar nahi, kya unko Bharat mai rehne ka adhikar hai (Who supports them, introspect. Those who don’t love our beloved land, those who can’t accept India’s freedom, those who can’t accept Vande Mataram, do they have any right to live in India)?” he added.
“Nahi, bilkul nahi (No, not at all),” the treasury benches replied.
Sarangi’s comments come days after Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq refused to say ‘Vande Mataram‘ during his oath-taking ceremony last week, arguing that it was “against Islam” (Muslims are against deifying the nation, with Islam identifying just one God).
His statement was followed by chants of “Vande Mataram” and “Jai Shri Ram” from other MPs.
Also read: Religious conversion is like seeking sex in return for a favour, says new minister Sarangi
‘Public doesn’t like dynasty politics’
Sarangi, a two-time former member of the Odisha assembly who won a Lok Sabha seat from Balasore this time, said the opposition had still not understood that the public doesn’t like dynastic politics.
He went on to “thank” the Congress, stating that one needed a villain to bring out the goodness of a hero. At this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laughed and Sarangi narrated a tale about Hindu god Ram to illustrate his point.
Narrating a dialogue between Ram and Kekayi, Sarangi quoted the former as being grateful to his stepmother, who had forced him, his bride Sita and his brother Laxman into exile. Had Kekayi’s actions not forced him to go on a 14-year “vanvaas”, Sarangi quoted Ram as having said, “who would have known me?”
Sarangi said it was under PM Modi that the country had shown its power to neighbouring nations. “Under which other leader could something like Balakot strikes be carried out? Who else could have got Wing Commander Abhinandan back so soon? And still, why is it that all of you hesitate to appreciate that?” he said.
Seeking proof of the strikes was like asking one’s mother to prove who your father is, Sarangi added, “Do you ask your mother for a DNA test to prove who your father is?”
Citing BJP MP Smriti Irani’s win over Congress president Rahul Gandhi in his pocketborough Amethi, he added, “You should start introspecting at least now.”
Asking the opposition to support the government, he said: “Help kariye, nahi karenge toh janta kya karegi, aapko pata hai (Help the government, if you don’t, you know what the public will do).”
Sarangi added that the Modi government wanted to take everyone along in the journey to make India a better nation, regardless of their party or religion. However, he had a word of caution too: If anyone stands against Bharat Mata, they will not be forgiven, he said.
“This nation was divided once because of a mistake, we will not let that happen again,” he added, “The tukde-tukde gang will not be tolerated here.”
Also read: Cycle-riding Pratap Sarangi is ‘Odisha’s Modi’ who took New Delhi by storm
Correct . You explained the truth.
POlitics is not a family affair where someone is considered a father, mother or Godfather. Raisng questions on national security , the economy or social / political issues will always be the sign of a vigorous democracy . The mother-father syndrome will result in everyone behaving like the BJP rank and file, looking upto one figure as omniscient and all-knowing.
THE PRINT byline seeks to separate fact from fiction. To that we may also add separate peace from friction. There seems to be too much of “mixing” in today’s political discourse. Deshbhakti is not determined by chanting Vande Mataram or Jai Sri Ram. Rather it is by serving society, especially the most needy, by living in harmony, by honesty and hard work, by paying one’s taxes, by civic sense and moral uprightness. Let’s get our priorities right. Sloganeering can win elections, but not a country’s progress.
What’s wrong with his statements? A nation is not identified by artificial boundaries created by political needs, it rather is known because of its distinct society and culture peculiar to that geography. India has been known as Bharata since time immemorial, called Hindustan by the Arabs.
To cut the story short, Bharat is now a multi-cultural, multi-racial hotspot of a vast multitude of languages, lifestyles and also religions. But the primary “soul” still retains the identity as “Bharata” or India or Hindustan. This is our land that nourish us all, hence also called “motherland”, like other nations also call their lands. We praise and pray for our land, its not a political but has sentimental value behind it.
Only the enemies of our land, people and culture can abuse, but they will have to face the consequences. There is nothing wrong in chanting “Vande Mataram”, it’s just a language that may offend few Muslims. But don’t all of us revere our mothers and our land?
A religion can never be put before one’s nation, it comes much later!
Why these right wing Hindutava forces were afraid to say Vande Mataram before 1947 ? Why were they so scared of British forces in those years ?
Who told you this? Are you aware how these words came into being and who all chanted it, including the Muslims? Are you aware of pre-1947 history and also the Ananda Math of Bengal who fought against the British chanting this? What’s wrong with “Vande Mataram”? Only because it’s a pair of Sanskrit words? If so then translate in your own language.
Do you know how many freedom fighters died chanting this? Only Hindus/RSS don’t own these words, they belong to all Indians.
99.9% of Indians have not heard of this gentleman. May it ever remain thus.
You played a great leader chief of bhajrangdal of state for burning Graham Staines along with his two children…. Today your speech unmasked your sadhu sant attire, with your maiden speech what you tried is attain cheap fame among fundamentalist with talking about unwarranted and unrelated issues.
Were you aware what the Stains family doing in that part of Orissa? What was the need for them there if not for religious conversion? When someone from outside enters a domain to create rifts, he should be well prepared too.
I am not supporting the heinous act of killing him and his son, but that was the manifestation of a troubled society.
Hindus don’t go to Australia for such purposes, do they? We don’t disturb them, what rights do they have?
Preaching and spreading are two different things. You must understand the effect at ground and village levels. Dara Singh is a criminal, and so was Staines.
The opposition to “BANDE MATARAM” and “JAI SIA RAM” is mostly political. This opposition is given oxygen by politics that survive on anti-Hinduism. Mamata didi could have instantly made “JAI SIA RAM” slogan ineffective by saying it herself but that would annoy her Muslim voters. Most Muslims have no issue with hearing or even saying BANDE MATARAM. Few Muslims who oppose BANDE MATARAM believe that BANDE means “PERSONS” as they think BANDE has come from BANDA that means a Person. After a long time Modi/RSS has been able to unite Hindus and India being a democracy, Hindus are going to dominate and ensure that Muslims are treated as equal. Political forces that ruled India with the help of minorities and by dividing Hindus are loosing their relevance . The real India that was suppressed by Islam and then Christianity has regained its strength and now asserting itself to face the challenges of anti-India forces.
Rightly said, Muslims and Christians are living in peace only because of the Hindus. Otherwise see their state in their own religion-centric nations.