Gautam Gambhir points to Muslim man's harassment, gets lesson on secularism

Newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from East Delhi Gautam Gambhir was at the receiving end of his own party sympathisers after he tweeted against alleged ill-treatment meted out to a Muslim man in Gurugram who was asked to remove his skull cap.

Gambhir, who made an impressive debut in Parliament by winning the Lok Sabha elections, termed the incident as deplorable.

He said "we are a secular nation", citing Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar penning "O palan haare, nirgun aur nyare" (a religious song from the famous film "Lagaan") and director Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra's "Dilli 6" song "Arziyan".

However, many social media users advised Gambhir not to be selective in highlighting the case.

"Write a tweet on Mathura's Yadav, who was killed by people for asking the payment of lassi, which was used to break the Roja (sic). OR just keep quiet...Don't get affected by the virus which only focusses on the selective incident," tweeted Chowkidar Kishore Bhartwal. (Chowkidar was the title used by many BJP supporters in the run-up to the Lok Sabha campaign).

Ankit Jain, who claimed to be a BJP supporter also asked Gambhir to speak on every incident, including against Hindus or else shut up. "Either speak on every incident or stay quiet," he told Gambhir in a tweet.

Following a spate of message questioning Gambhir's "secularism", the cricketer-turned-politician clarified that this thought on secularism emanated from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mantra "Sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas".

"I am not limiting myself to the Gurugram incident alone, any oppression based on caste/religion is deplorable. Tolerance and inclusive(ness) is what idea of India is based on," he tweeted.