Dimapur, January 29 (MExN): Congress leader and National Coordinator of the AICC Minority Department incharge Manipur, Rajesh Kumar Sethi, has condemned Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for what he described as “repeated hate-filled and divisive statements against minority communities” and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the issue.
In a press statement, Sethi said the Assam Chief Minister’s remarks encouraging economic discrimination against a particular community were “dangerous, unconstitutional, and deeply disturbing.”
“Calling upon people to underpay members of a community is nothing but an open call for economic apartheid. The Chief Minister’s reported statement encouraging economic discrimination — ‘If the rickshaw fare is Rs 5, pay Rs 4’ — against a particular community reflects a dangerous mindset that promotes social boycott and economic apartheid. This is nothing but an open call for discrimination and communal hatred. Such statements promote hatred, exclusion, and social boycott,” he said.
Sethi expressed concern over what he termed the “normalisation of communal rhetoric” in public life. “Spewing hatred on communal lines is a serious offence. If the rule of law was implemented impartially, such repeated violations would not go unpunished,” he added.
He also criticised the alleged filing of a sedition case against him for reproducing and highlighting the Chief Minister’s statements. “Instead of acting against hate speech, attempts are being made to silence those who speak the truth. This reflects a dangerous trend of suppressing dissent,” Sethi said.
Targeting the central leadership, Sethi said, “The real problem lies in Delhi. The Prime Minister’s silence on such disturbing statements sends a wrong message to the nation. Silence in the face of hatred amounts to indirect endorsement.”
He further stated that the Constitution guarantees equality, dignity and justice to all citizens, irrespective of religion or community. “No citizen should be made to feel insecure or treated as second-class in their own country,” he said.
Sethi urged constitutional authorities and law enforcement agencies to act firmly against hate speech and divisive politics. “Our nation cannot progress on the basis of fear and prejudice. India belongs to all its people,” he asserted.
