Noting that the National Crime Records Bureau data showed a decline in communal incidents and atrocities on Dalits, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said Congress and intellectuals close to it had launched a "malicious campaign" "as for the first time since independence an alternative world view was being spread by BJP."
Asked about concerns expressed by a number of noted people seen sympathetic to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Naidu told a press conference that they were "misled" while some others were "misleading."
"Congress talking about intolerance is like the devil quoting the scriptures. Their plan to meet the President of India protesting against intolerance is the joke of the decade. Congress and its political friends are intolerant of people's mandate," he said.
He raked up the Emergency, 1984 anti-Sikh riots, mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and well-publicised killings of individuals for ideological reasons in Kerala to wonder why many of these intellectuals were silent then.
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"Reasons for the ongoing malicious campaign against BJP and the Prime Minister lie elsewhere. Since Independence, one particular line of thinking has been patronized and individuals and institutions were propped up in the name of one family.
He blamed writer Nayantara Sahgal and filmmaker Anand Patwardhan for leading these protests, resulting in a number of personalities returning their awards.
Naidu also made light of rating agency Moody's warning to Modi that India may lose credibility if such incidents continued and said "they have given caution. Naturally, caution has to be kept in mind. That's why I am cautioning these people who are trying to tar the image (of India). Moody has appreciated Modi."