BHARAT BHUSHAN
JAMMU, Nov 5: Up in arms against Nitin Gadkari's statement in Bhopal that the intelligence quotient (IQ) level of Swami Vivekananda and Dawood Ibrahim was almost the same, Jammuites today said the BJP chief's remarks needed to be condemned in the strongest possible words.
"How can he draw such an irrational comparison? While Vivekananda is highly revered all time great Indian seer who has showed people the path to peace and spirituality, Dawood is an international terrorist whose hands are drenched with the blood of thousands of innocents," said Rajinder Pal Singh of Chatha.
He felt that Gadkari himself was suffering from a low IQ level due to the ongoing probe by various central agencies into the alleged wrongful deals of his business venture, Purti Group.
The inquiry started after India Against Corruption (IAC) activist Arvind Kejriwal levelled serious allegations against him. He is now facing stiff opposition for his controversial remarks.
With this, he has become BJP's second national president who has landed in trouble for his own faults. Earlier, during his visit to Pakistan in 2005, L K Advani wrote in the visitors' book at the mausoleum of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, describing him as a 'great man', a 'great leader', an ardent secularist, and as one of those rare men who 'actually create history'. He had to resign after his these controversial remarks.
For his remarks, Gadkari may also have to quit, or may not command the same respect in the party even if he is not compelled to resign.
Meanwhile, following his criticism by Congress and other political parties, he today denied that he had drawn a comparison between Vivekananda and Daud, and claimed that he had been misquoted, according to some national news channels.
Surinder Jamwal described Gadkari's utterances as irrational and irresponsible. "Today, he has compared Vivekanand, who would continue to have great respect in the minds of crores of Indians for all times to come, with the most hated terrorist Daud Ibrahim; tomorrow, he may go a step forward by comparing Hindu gods and goddesses with the worst kind of characters. His remarks need to be condemned in strongest possible words by all the Indians in one voice," he asserted.
"What can we expect from a party whose president has compared Vivekananda with a terrorist?" Sudhanshu Sharma of Panjtirthi said and added, "It is like showing disrespect to the greatly revered saint."
Jawahar Lal Kaul, Ajay Pandita, Vivek Mahajan, Prabhakar Singh, Shamsher Singh, Mohinder Pal Sharma and Sudhir Gupta, who hail from different Jammu localities, said the people must show their resentment against the BJP president's remarks.
They said they failed to understand as to why the BJP president had made an attempt to hurt the sentiments of crores of Indians who "respect saints of all religions from the core of their hearts."
When contacted over phone, state BJP president Shamsher Singh Manhas said he actually did not know anything about the Gadkari's statement.
"Since I do not anything about the Gadkari's statement, I will not be able to make any comment on it," he said and added, "Actually, I was busy in today's protest by the party against the state government over the issues of LPG shortage, ration problem and unemployment."
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