According to media reports, the Police has registered a case against , Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress’ leader in Lok Sabha, over his remark on Assamese artiste Bhupen Hazarika. Earlier, Mallikarjun Kharge questioned the government’s decision of awarding the ‘Bharat Ratna’ to the legendary singer; instead he lobbied for Shivakumara Swami, the Lingayat soothsayer from Karnataka, who died recently.
Talking to Asian News International (ANI), the Congress leader alleged that though the government has acknowledged Shivakumara Swami’s good work, it hadn’t considered him for India’s highest civilian award. Not only that, he further lashes out against this year’s Bharat Ratna awardees adding, “This is sad. A singer (Bhupen Hazarika) and a man who propagates their RSS ideology (Nanaji Deshmukh) have been awarded”. On Friday, January 25, the Modi government named former President Pranab Mukherjee for Bharat Ratna along with veteran singer Bhupen Hazarika and social activist Nanaji Deshmukh.
On such vague remarks by the Congress leader, an RTI activist Raju Mahanta filled a case against him and alleged him for hurting the sentiments of Assamese people. While talking to reporters, Raju Mahanta told that he filed the case against Mallikarjun Kharge as the Congress leader’s remarks are derogatory and has hurt the sentiments of the people of Assam. He further demanded an apology from the Congress’ Lok Sabha leader.
Not to forget that the Congress party has time and again sidelined the interest of north-eastern states. Congress party had been in power in ‘7-sister states’ for a long time but hadn’t done enough. And now when the BJP government is trying to recognize their cultural icons, the Congress insults them as well. Earlier the North-Eastern state of Mizoram completely abandoned the Congress party in the assembly elections held last year. Congress is almost gasping for breath in the northeastern states of India.
The demand of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the north-eastern states was put on a hold by the Grand Old Party. But the BJP government, after coming to the power in 2014, worked toward passing a law in this matter. The NRC is a firm step of the government to curb the cross-border infiltration and is an issue of national security. As a matter of fact, though the left-liberal establishments lashed out against the BJP government, but the BJP never lost any election since the bill came in to existence. A noteworthy fact is that the North-Eastern Democratic Alliance (NEDA) is running the government in almost all of the states in the North-East.
The latest statement of the Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha is nothing but an extension of the nefarious intent of the Grand Old Party against the sidelining the interests of the North-East states. Although the work of the Lingayat sect seer is commendable, the Congress’ statement is damaging to the stature of a veteran artist and shows the mindset of the Grand Old party. Further, the BJP with the help of NEDA along with regional political parties like the Naga People’s Front, the Sikkim Democratic Front, the People’s Party of Arunachal, the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bodoland People’s Front in the Northeast India is cutting the roots of corruption and ill-intents of the Congress party.