Asserting that communal incidents have declined since the BJP-led NDA Government came to power, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday said the ongoing debate over growing intolerance in the nation is 'misplaced' while urging the society to come together and address this issue.
"The record shows that the number of communal incidents in the country has come down since we have come to power. Since NDA came to power, the total number of communal incidents has come down compared to 2013. All this debate is misplaced, there are issues, which the society as a whole must come together and address," Rijiju told the media here.
"To just make a blatant statement that during NDA rule or Prime Minister Narendra Modi's (rule), the country has become intolerant is not the way. It unnecessarily tarnishes the image of the country. Total number of deaths due to communal violence has come down since 2013 and early 2014 when the UPA was in power," he added.
Rijiju's comment came a day after Bollywood actor Aamir Khan expressed "alarm" and despondency over the rise in such cases "in the last six to eight months".
Aamir, who was speaking at the eighth edition of the Ramnath Goenka excellence in journalism awards yesterday, said that a sense a sense of "insecurity" and "fear" had seeped deep within society.
It may be recalled here that the rising intolerance has become a contentious issue over the last few months with several prominent writers, poets, filmmakers and intellectuals raising their concern on the issue.