Firebrand politician Subramanian Swamy is all set to file a case against BBC journalist Stephen Sackur after the latter accused him of discrimination against Muslims and falsely attributed ‘Muslims not equal’ comments to him. Advocate Ishkaran Singh Bhandari took to Twitter to inform that a case in this regard is about to be filed.
“You Be Careful,” Ram Madhav Tells BBC Journalist After Being Grilled On Subramanian Swamy’s Comments On Muslims | HW English
— Ishkaran Singh Bhandari (@ishkarnBHANDARI) December 11, 2020
@rammadhavbjp ji was right to warn BBC, Case about to be filed @Swamy39 https://t.co/1RlIYg19dl
In an interview with Ram Madhav on BBC HARDtalk, Sackur seemed intent on cornering the BJP leader, questioning him on a host of issues including Kapil Mishra’s tweets, Home Minister Amit Shah’s ‘termites’ remark for illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Subramanian Swamy’s allegedly discriminatory remarks against India’s Muslim population.
Ram Madhav cautions BBC journalist of a legal suit if his Swamy’s remarks about the Muslims are false
When Ram Madhav repudiated Sackur’s allegations of BJP’s alleged prejudice against the Muslims, the BBC journalist said, “Are you not aware that just last month the BJP MP, Subramanian Swamy, said, ‘Muslims if they become anything like 30% of our population, they will be a danger to the country.’ Muslims, he said, are not in an equal category. This is the language of pure discrimination and coming from senior figures in your party.”
Madhav responded to the question, stating that the BBC journalist should be careful, for if the allegations levelled by him against Dr Swamy are not true, he will face a legal suit by the BJP MP. Madhav also added that if the statement is at all true, the party does not subscribe to such sentiments.
“Ok, I have not seen the statement directly. I take it that what you are saying is true. You be careful that if it is not true, you will be sued by Dr Swamy. Having said that, we do not approve of such sentiments,” Madhav said.
The BBC journalist’s question came in reference to Swamy’s interview with Vice News where he was asked if the Citizenship Amendment Act was in contravention of the Article 14 of the Indian constitution that grants equal rights to all Indian citizens regardless of their religious background.
Swamy had then said, “It’s misinterpretation of Article 14. Article 14 guarantees equality for equals”.
India has been engulfed in riots after suddenly stripping nearly 2M people of their citizenship.@IsobelYeung travels to India to see how a newly-enacted law has signaled to India’s 200M Muslims that they are the true target.
— VICE News (@VICENews) April 1, 2020
Watch #VICEonSHO Sunday at 8 PM ET on @Showtime. pic.twitter.com/gFjCEmu0bh
“If Muslims become more than 30 per cent, that country will be in a danger,” Swamy said while speaking to Isobel Yeung.
BBC journalist cites Amit Shah’s “termites” remark out of context to paint BJP as anti-Muslim
Subsequently, the BBC journalist asked Madhav to provide an explanation on Home Minister Amit Shah’s “termite” remarks for the Bangladeshi infiltrators in India. He asked, “If you are so sure that there is no discrimination, communal hatred, racism directed by the saffron party towards Muslims, then how would you react when your own Home Minister Amit Shah describes migrants from Muslim majority Bangladesh living in India as ‘termites’ who will be thrown into the Bay of Bengal?”
Madhav coolly responded that Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks were taken out of context.
Shah had referred to the illegal immigrants in West Bengal as termites ahead of the General elections 2019. He made the comment in reference to the enormous strain the illegal immigrants posed for the limited resources in the country which are meant for the poor.
“The illegal immigrants are like termites. They are eating the grain that should go to the poor, they are taking our jobs. The T of TMC stands for Tushtikaran, (appeasement), M for Mafia and C for Chit funds. After coming to power, the BJP would find these termites and throw them out,” Shah said.
Ram Madhav, in his defence, said that the allegations of BJP leaders and the saffron party being anti-Muslims are totally baseless, and have their origins from the nefarious campaign ran by the opposition parties and individuals who are opposed to the Modi government. He further cited the approval ratings of PM Modi commissioned by independent agencies, stating that they are above 90 per cent, which means that both Hindus and Muslims have voted in favour of the prime minister.
