Independence Day is a national festival, and it has nothing to do with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Harshvardhan Sapkal on Wednesday. “When the entire country was fighting for independence, the BJP’s ideological forefathers were with the British; some were drawing pensions from the British and helping them,” he said in a scathing attack against the BJP, alleging that such fatwas about what people should eat on Independence Day are being issued only to hide these dark stains on the BJP’s past.
Speaking at a press conference at Tilak Bhavan, Sapkal heavily criticised the BJP government. He further said that by bringing in the concept of “One Nation, One Leader,” the BJP aims to impose one leader, one dress, one language, and one diet, thereby destroying the unity in diversity of the country and bringing in dictatorship. “Hindu-Muslim disputes are an everyday affair; first, they created a Maratha-OBC conflict, then a Marathi-Hindi row, and now they have issued a fatwa against eating meat on August 15. This is an attempt to bring every form of government control over the public,” the state Congress chief said.
Talking about the controversy over Kabutarkhanas and issue of feeding pigeons, Sapkal stated, “Just as pigeons have the right to live, humans too have the right to live. Pigeon feathers and droppings cause serious lung diseases, and some people even lose their lives; therefore, citizens’ health is equally important. But the BJP government has deliberately started a ‘pigeon jihad.’”
Sapkal claimed that the government has already handed over half of Mumbai to Adani Group, and Minister Mangalprabhat Lodha also has large tracts of land in Mumbai. “On these lands, Lodha and Adani should build a special pigeon plaza,” he added.
The Congress chief said that within the BJP alliance government, gang wars are underway, massive corruption is rampant, and the state has been driven into bankruptcy. The BJP government has fanned the issue of pigeon feeding to divert public attention from the reality of vote theft, he claimed.
He went on to say that while former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had established a riot control force in the state, Devendra Fadnavis has set up a riot creation force. This force is being sent to Nagpur, Pune, Nashik, and Mumbai to disrupt social harmony, he said. Sapkal added that the great saint Mahavir from the Jain community taught humility, wisdom, and modesty, but these values are not being upheld.
