New Delhi:
Senior BJP leader and Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar has hit out at Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for expressing ‘strong protest’ over the registering of an FIR against 49 eminent citizens in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Javadekar said that it was an ‘absolute falsehood’ spread by vested interests and ‘tukde-tukde’ gang and asserted that it has nothing to do with either the Bharatiya Janata Party or its dispensation at the Centre.
"This has nothing to do with the BJP and the government. This is a canard which is always spread to defame the Modi government and used to give an impression that there is a choking of freedom of expression in a draconian fashion under it," he told PTI.
Javadekar refrained from naming anyone but said that spreading falsehood and falsification of facts is an old practice of critics to defame the Modi government.
"This is exactly what is happening in this case. This whole gang has network world over. But people know who stands for what," he said.
Earlier, in his letter dated October 7, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram also said those criticising the prime minister should not be considered ‘anti-nationals’.
Tharoor urged Modi to take a public stand welcoming dissent and assure the nation of his "commitment to upholding Freedom of Expression even when it involves disagreement with you or your government."
"We are deeply disturbed by the FIR filed in Muzaffarpur, Bihar against a group of 49 concerned Indian citizens, who wrote a letter to you, on July 23, 2019, highlighting the rise of mob lynchings in the country," he said in the letter.
With PTI Inputs
