Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Tuesday that his statement on Dalits sounded like a movie dialogue, adding that it was a case of "too little too late".
At a Bharatiya Janata Party meeting in Hyderabad on Sunday, Modi spoke about the attack on the Dalits by cow vigilantes and said: "If you want to attack, attack me, not (the) Dalits. If you want to shoot, shoot me."
"The statement was too little too late," Yechury said.
"It sounded like the dialogue of a mother from every other Hindi movie... kill me but don't kill my child," the leftist leader said.
Yechury also questioned the Prime Minister's "inaction" against those delivering hate speeches.
"Can the Prime Minister ensure he will implement the law of the land? Hate speech is a violation of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure)," he added.
Earlier in the day, Bahujan Samaj Party leader and Rajya Sabha member Mayawati said Modi should make a statement on the issue in the house.
"When Parliament was in session, the Prime Minister chose to speak outside Parliament on the issue. It would have been better if he had spoken in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. His statement looks politically inspired," Mayawati said in the upper house on Tuesday morning.
--IANS
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