Indore: Hitting out at Sonia and Rahul Gandhi over stalling of Parliament on National Herald issue, Union Minister Uma Bharti today said the Congress leaders in their show of bravado have forgotten their responsibility towards the country.
"On Delhi roads, two or four bikers stand with their two-wheelers. They ride their bikes and cause traffic jams and feel brave. Sonia and Rahul too are feeling brave by stalling Parliament over National Herald case. But, they have forgotten that they have a responsibility towards the country," Bharti told reporters here last night.
"The country has fallen prey to this bravado of Sonia and Rahul," she said taking a jibe at the two leaders. People are angry over the release of the juvenile convict in the Delhi gangrape case. But, in the midst of the logjam created by Congress, the amendment to the Juvenile Justice Act could not be passed in Rajya Sabha, the firebrand BJP leader said.
She said, "Is this not the responsibility of Sonia to get the amendments to Juvenile Justice Act passed to save the honour of Indian women? Does her only responsibility rest in saving the honour of her son-in-law?"
She also took a dig at the Congress president over her statement in connection with the National Herald case that "I am the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi, I am not scared of anyone."
"If Sonia wants to learn something from her mother-in-law, she should not learn how she (Indira) saved her chair. She should learn from Indira Gandhi how she had freed Bangladesh by waging a war against Pakistan and winning it," Bharti said.
"Sonia Gandhi should respect Indian laws," or else the Gandhis will face the same drubbing they suffered post-Emergency, she said.
Read Also: Congress burns effigy of PM Modi in Lucknow to protest over Herald case
Dismissing the allegations of rise in intolerance during the rule of the present NDA government, Bharti said, "Intolerance was witnessed in the country after the partition in 1947, imposition of Emergency in 1975 and during the Sikh riots in 1984."
When asked about the protests against Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Dilwale" over the actor's comments on intolerance, she said both the sides have the freedom to express their views.
"You cannot deprive any side of the freedom of expressing their views," she opined.
She advised the artistes, sportspersons and musicians to think deeply before making remarks as their fans get hurt by their "wrong statements".
At the same time, Bharti called for appropriate action against those who make statements "which give rise to intolerance".
"Some years back, there were reports that actor Saif Ali Khan faced difficulties in Mumbai while buying a house, owing to him being a Muslim. Believe me, only after these
reports came to light that it struck me that he is a Muslim as before that I only saw him as a famous actor," she said.
She said sometimes actors do not get houses in the residential housing societies owing to their lifestyle. These societies do not object to their being a Hindu or a Muslim, she said.
To a query on the Ram temple issue, she said, "There is Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh. SP head and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's father Mulayam Singh Yadav
should sit with both the parties and intitiate steps to find a solution to the temple construction issue with mutual consent, outside the court."
