PM Narendra Modi accused the Congress of looking at India's icons through the lens of religion.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the Congress of looking at the country's icons through the lens of religion while the BJP saw them as Indians first. Naming Independence movement icon Abdul Ghaffar Khan as one such legend, the Prime Minister added that he had the privilege of touching his feet years ago.
Slamming his political rivals while replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, PM Modi said that there was a problem in the opposition's mindset which saw some people as "Muslims of India" while for BJP everyone is an Indian.
"We are being reminded that the slogan of 'Quit India', 'Jai Hind' was given by Muslims. Problem is that in the eyes of Congress these people are only a Muslim even after so many years. For us, they are Indians. Be it Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Abdul Hamid or Abdul Kalam Azad, these all are Indians for us," PM Modi said in the Lok Sabha.
"I had the privilege of touching Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan's feet when I was young," he said.
"Congress and parties like this will certainly realise their mistakes on the day when they start seeing India as India," he added.
In a two-part attack in the two houses of parliament, PM Modi on Thursday hit out at the Congress and other opposition parties over their campaign against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir's special status and the economy.
Referring to Congress icon Jawaharlal Nehru, he said the former Prime Minister wanted to defend minorities in then West Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). "Was he communal, did he want to create a Hindu Rashtra...I want to ask the Congress," PM Modi said.
The Congress described the PM's address as one that oscillated between "stand-up comedy" and "rank communalism", and said he should apologise for "misleading" the country by quoting Jawaharlal Nehru "out of context".