A day after signing a letter for communal harmony, BJP President JP Nadda blamed the opposition for inflaming communal tensions

*Paromita Das

On April 18, Bharatiya Janata Party President Jagat Prakash Nadda addressed a letter to the nation in which he blamed the opposition for inflaming communal tensions in the country.

His letter arrived a day after the opposition signed a letter calling for communal harmony.

BJP President Shri @JPNadda ji's message to the nation. pic.twitter.com/EoC5lceV3H

— BJP (@BJP4India) April 18, 2022

Nadda stated in his letter that while India is celebrating 75 years of independence and the ruling party has dusted and rusted the approach to vote, bank politics, divisive politics, and selective politics, the opposition parties are bitter. Such’rejected and dejected’ parties, he claims, are seeking refuge in vote banks and divisive politics.

Nadda cited several instances in which opposition parties fueled or turned a blind eye to communal violence while in power. He recalled how, in November 1966, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered firing on Hindu Sadhus protesting cow slaughter.
Nadda referred to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s infamous speech in which he said, “When a big tree falls, the earth shakes,” justifying the massacre of Sikhs following PM Indira Gandhi’s assassination. From Gujarat in 1969 to Bhiwandi in 1984, Meerut in 1987, Muzaffarnagar in 2013, Assam in 2012, and incidents against Kashmiri Pandits throughout the 1980s that led to their exodus from the valley, Nadda cited many major incidents that occurred during the regimes of the Congress and other parties at the center and in states.

In response to the political killings in West Bengal and Kerala, he stated, “The shameful political violence in West Bengal and Kerala, as well as the repeated killing and targeting of BJP workers, provides a glimpse of how some of our political parties regard democracy.”
He also mentioned how two Maharashtra cabinet ministers are facing serious charges of corruption, extortion, and links to anti-social elements.

“The youth of India want opportunities, not obstacles,” he said. They want progress, not divisions. Today, when people of all faiths, ages, and walks of life have come together to defeat poverty and propel India to new heights of progress, I would urge the opposition to change course and embrace development politics. We owe it to future generations.”

The Joint Statement on Peace by the Opposition Parties

On April 16, thirteen political parties issued a joint statement urging everyone to keep the peace.

We reiterate our commitment to combat and confront the poisonous ideologies which are attempting to entrench divisiveness in our society.

– Joint appeal by like-minded political parties to the people to maintain peace & harmony, demanding stringent punishment to perpetrators pic.twitter.com/SPz4rdHNQf

— Congress (@INCIndia) April 16, 2022

The statement, signed by Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, ML Stalin, Sitaram Yechury, Hemant Soren, Farooq Abdullah, D Raja, Tejaswi Yadav, and others, blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence regarding recent incidents of violence. They also alleged that social media was being used to spread hatred and prejudice.