Ribeiro an icon, I felt sad reading his piece, told the PM: Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister for Transport Nitin Gadkari

Saying he “very sad” after reading former IPS officer Julio Ribeiro’s article in The Indian Express about his growing insecurity as a Christian in India, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari disclosed Thursday he had raised the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was “very sensitive, equally concerned” about “this perception”.

He also promised “we will not protect anyone damaging a minority institution, church or mosque” because “law and order is our responsibility, we will protect minorities.” Speaking at the Idea Exchange programme of The Indian Express, Gadkari said he considers Ribeiro “a national icon” and “the perception of the Modi government being anti-minority has been created by opposition parties”.

“I told the Prime Minister that I do not think of him (Ribeiro) as a minority member. He is a role model for the entire country. The kind of work he has done for the country… there is no honest and efficient officer like him in Mumbai… I respect Ribeiroji a lot. I felt very sad about the article. We need to think about this perception.”

“Everyday in Parliament, there is a new issue to stall business. The Left, Congress and anti-BJP parties have been out to prove that we are against minorities ever since we were elected. Their biggest capital is fear… minorities have nothing to fear from the government, least of all Ribeiroji. He is our icon,” he said. In an article in The Indian Express on March 17, Ribeiro, now 86, had written about what he thought was “systematic targeting” of Christians after the BJP came to power at the Centre and the “sense of siege that now afflicts these peaceful people”. Gadkari said the Prime Minister was “very sensitive and concerned about this issue for many days now.”

Underlining the government’s belief in “positive secularism”, he cited the example of the key role Modi played in ensuring the safe return home of a clergyman kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan. “Our government headed by Narendra Modi is not against minorities, incidents happen. now take this nun incident in West Bengal, two Muslim youths were involved in it. one should not look at these things through the prism of caste, sect or religion. Justice to all, appeasement of none is our motto. Occasionally, people from within our party give wrong statements… we have clarified on these matters. I felt very bad about Ribeiro. I did not speak to him. I should have,” he said.

He slammed parties like the “Left and Congress who have lost out on the development agenda and are trying to fan insecurity among minority groups in an attempt to perpetuate their brand of votebank politics”. “To create fear in the mind of minorities is their political strategy… till they can evoke fear in the minds of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs etc, their votebank politics does not work. Such things happened even during Congress rule, our party, government have nothing to do with this. We will not protect anyone damaging a minority institution, church or mosque. Law and order is our responsibility, we will protect minorities,” he said.

Source:: Indian Express