Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be unveiling a life-size statue of Swami Vivekananda at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus today evening. The statue was vandalised by goons on JNU campus in November last year. Slogans like ‘Bhagwa jalega’ and ‘F*ck BJP’ were painted across by leftist goons. The inauguration will be done through video conference.
Speaking about the event, PM Narendra Modi Tweeted: “At 6:30 this evening, will unveil a statue of Swami Vivekananda at the JNU campus and share my thoughts on the occasion. The programme will be held via video conferencing. I look forward to the programme this evening”.
At 6:30 this evening, will unveil a statue of Swami Vivekananda at the JNU campus and share my thoughts on the occasion. The programme will be held via video conferencing. I look forward to the programme this evening.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 12, 2020
While the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) has called for an anti-Modi protest over the funds used for the construction of the statue, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also jumped on the bandwagon to question the BJP government on the ‘wasteful’ expenditure being incurred on the installation of Swami Vivekananda’s statue. They claimed that the funds being spent on the ceremony could have been put to better use.
#Breaking | NCP questions ‘wasteful’ expenditure on the Vivekanand statue; says the money could have been put to better use. pic.twitter.com/ZKDMiGIIDR
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 12, 2020
The National Congress Party has been steadfast in joining the controversy that has hit the ceremony hours ahead of the scheduled unveiling. Interestingly, today NCP is finding the funds spent on the installation of the leader’s statue a waste of expenditure. Probably, the party members have forgotten that it was their opportunistic party which had only a few years back latched onto the name of the same leader when they wanted to justify beef-eating.
“Swami Vivekananda was not only a meat eater but used to cook non-vegetarian food”: NCP
When in April 2017, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had advocated a nationwide law against cow slaughter, calling it a “vice” that must be removed, NCP general secretary DP Tripathi had rebuked the RSS chief for his idea. He had then said that “nowhere in the Vedas it is written that eating beef is a crime. It is not there in the shastras, the Vedas. I challenge Bhagwat or any of his representatives to come and a debate on the basis of all Hindu scriptures.”
Claiming that 80 per cent of the countrymen, including a majority of Hindus, eat beef, Tripathi said Bhagwat’s idea of having a ban on cow slaughter is against the spirit of the Constitution.
He claimed Swami Vivekananda, whom “Prime Minister Narendra Modi admires, was not only a meat eater but used to cook non-vegetarian food”. He had furthered that had it been possible for these groups, they would have “jailed even the likes of Swami Vivekananda” for their views on beef and meat.
Interestingly, the party which had not shied away from using Swami Vivekanand’s name for proving their point, are now getting worked up when the statue of the same leader is being installed.
