On Saturday (10th August), Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar warned the nation against individuals who threaten Bangladesh-like incidents in India. Without explicitly naming Congress leaders, VP Dhankhar lambasted individuals who have been peddling the narrative that what happened in our neighbourhood (Bangladesh) is bound to happen in our Bharat. He added that these remarks are deeply concerning.
He also urged the nation to be cautious of such individuals and expressed shock that such remarks came from individuals who held high positions in their lives, have been members of Parliament and served as ministers. He added that one among them has extensive experience in foreign service, alluding to remarks of Congress leader Salman Khurshid who has previously served as India’s External Affairs Minister.
Be on watch out!!
— Vice-President of India (@VPIndia) August 10, 2024
Efforts by some to infuse a narrative that what happened in our neighbourhood is bound to happen in our Bharat, is deeply concerning.
How can a citizen of this country having been a Member of Parliament, and the other who has seen enough of Foreign Service… pic.twitter.com/MWEoz1Ao1C
VP Dhankhar also raised questions as to how such responsible individuals could spread false propaganda and say what happened in the neighbourhood will happen in India!
Notably, he made these remarks while addressing judges and lawyers at an event marking the Platinum Jubilee of the Rajasthan High Court in Jodhpur.
Addressing the gathering, the Vice President also warned the nation against anti-national forces that have been using constitutional institutions as platforms to gain legitimacy. He added that our institutions are being exploited by these forces to set afloat narratives that are aimed at derailing our nation and its democracy.
He said, “These forces are eager to disrupt the nation and derail its development and democracy by creating fabricated narratives. National interest is paramount and cannot be compromised.”
Anti national forces are using the platforms of our constitutional institutions to hide or legitimise their actions.
— Vice-President of India (@VPIndia) August 10, 2024
Our institutions are exploited by these forces to set afloat narrative that are aimed at derailing our nation & its democracy. #RajasthanHighCourt pic.twitter.com/sf6R0Ya6cE
National interest can't be calibrated.
— Vice-President of India (@VPIndia) August 10, 2024
It is the supreme precedence, the only precedence, and we are committed to nation being first, before anything else.#RajasthanHighCourt pic.twitter.com/Aun3L1VUAG
During his address, the Vice President appreciated the role of the judiciary in strengthening the roots of democracy in India. He, however, mentioned that there was only one time in the history of independent India when the judiciary bowed to the dictatorship of one individual – which he described as the draconian, darkest period of Emergency.
He asserted, “Imagine, if the judiciary at the highest level had not caved in and yielded to the dictatorship of Shrimati Indira Gandhi, there would have been no Emergency,” adding that our nation would have attained greater development much before.
If the judiciary at the highest level had not caved in & yielded to the dictatorship of an individual, there would have been no Emergency.
— Vice-President of India (@VPIndia) August 10, 2024
Our nation would have attained greater development much before.
We would not have had to wait for decades. #RajasthanHighCourt pic.twitter.com/wjeXrbtSDy
He further noted that the new generation has very little knowledge about the dark period of the Emergency. He also called upon the country’s youth to be informed about that dark chapter in India’s history.
Younger people are not aware of emergency.
— Vice-President of India (@VPIndia) August 10, 2024
Let's make sure that every Indian comes to fully know about the dark period of emergency & its consequences. #RajasthanHighCourt pic.twitter.com/lFIjACcY33
The Vice President praised the Government of India’s decision to observe 25th June as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas, stating that this day would remind the citizens of the attack on the Constitution in 1975 and how its fundamental essence was crushed.
The Government resolved to observe 25th June as Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas, as a reminder of what happened when the Constitution of India was recklessly trampled over by one individual.
— Vice-President of India (@VPIndia) August 10, 2024
No part of the Constitution was complied with. #RajasthanHighCourt pic.twitter.com/8OBDQyILTY
Congress leaders controversial remarks threatening Bangladesh-like fate in India
Earlier this week, Congress leader Salman Khurshid threatened that a Bangladesh-like situation could develop in India. Speaking at a book launch event, Khurshid had said, “Everything may look normal in Kashmir. Everything may look normal here in Delhi, after the election results. The fact remains that under the surface, there is something. What’s happening in Bangladesh can happen here. The spread of our country prevents things from blowing up in the manner in which they have blown up in Bangladesh.”
SHOCKING: "We disappointed young Muslims to the extent that they decided to take law & order in hand" says Salman Khurshid.
— BALA (@erbmjha) August 7, 2024
Congress leader justifies terrorist activities and attacks in Kashmir and India by Muslims. pic.twitter.com/vzzf2qSwfs
Similarly, Congress leader Sajjan Kumar Verma said that the day is not far when people will storm Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence and drive him out of the country just as it happened with Sheikh Hasina.
भारत में बांग्लादेश जैसे हालात चाहती है कांग्रेस… pic.twitter.com/wsGH944mbx
— BJP (@BJP4India) August 8, 2024
“First in Sri Lanka, the public barged into the residence of their Prime Minister, then in Bangladesh and now its India’s number,” Verma said.
Furthermore, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Iyer claimed that Bangladesh and India had ‘comparable’ situation.
Social unrest in Bangladesh
Incidentally, India’s eastern neighbour, Bangladesh has been gripped by social unrest for several weeks now. The protest which initially began with the demand to end the reservation for the families of freedom fighters ‘liberation warriors’ of Bangladesh, finally culminated in ‘regime change’ as the violent protesters forced the country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and fled the country for her safety. Strikingly, moments after she left her official residence in Dhaka, thousands of rioters stormed it and looted everything they could lay their hands on.
Numerous reports of targeted attacks against Hindus, their houses and their temples have continued ever since Sheikh Hasina resigned. Meanwhile, the country is now being governed by an Interim government headed by Nobel laureate, Mohd Yunus.
(With Inputs from ANI)
