New Delhi: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Tuesday that the next target of the government is to eliminate those people who do not take up arms but have Naxalite thinking in their minds. Making a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has almost eliminated armed Maoists from the country and for this Rahul Gandhi should thank Modi.
Rijiju wrote on his
Rahul Gandhi had addressed the CRPF soldiers and replied
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, while addressing the CRPF jawans on Monday, had made a direct attack on Prime Minister Modi's 'mindful Naxalite' comment. He told the soldiers that you people do not believe in the statements of the Prime Minister. Tagging CRPF in his post, Rahul Gandhi had written, “Your faces were saying everything. You did not believe the Prime Minister's lies.”
Giving an open challenge to the Prime Minister again, he said, “He called us Naxal. My challenge remains intact. Let him debate with me on who is anti-national and who is under the control of foreign powers. Anytime, anywhere. I guarantee that after the debate is over, the Prime Minister will not have the courage to stand in front of any soldier again.”
Controversy started after Modi's statement
Actually, this reaction of Rahul Gandhi has come after the statement given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day earlier. While celebrating Diwali with CRPF jawans in Chhattisgarh's Bastar on Sunday, Modi had said that armed Maoists have been eliminated, but 'brainy Naxalites' have entered many political parties and organisations. Modi had said that he was instigating people against the Constitution and democracy. We have to identify such people and defeat them and keep the country safe.
Manmohan Singh's old statement also surfaced
Rijiju also mentioned former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his statement. In 2006, Manmohan Singh had said in Parliament that Naxalism is the biggest internal security threat to the country. Rijiju raised the question that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is now criticizing the same Prime Minister who ended Naxalism.
Congress's counterattack
At the same time, the Congress party attacked Prime Minister Modi and said that he clearly looks troubled, distraught and desperate. The party says that their 'time to lift the bag' is fast approaching. Opposition parties allege that the Prime Minister is deliberately using the term 'mindless Naxal' so as to discredit democratic dissent.
Let us tell you that in his speech from the Red Fort on August 15, Prime Minister Modi had also used the word 'mindful Naxal'. He had said that the country has succeeded in eliminating armed Naxalism, but people following Naxalite ideology are still finding new ways to spread violence. Since that time the term 'mindful Naxal' has been at the center of the country's politics.