VP-elect Venkaiah Naidu slams his predecessor Hamid Ansari for saying 'minorities are insecure' in India

Vice President-elect M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday slammed his predecessor Hamid Ansari for his remark on insecurities of minority community in India. Without naming Ansari, Naidu said: “Some people are saying minorities are insecure. It is a political propaganda. Compared to the entire world, minorities are more safe and secure in India and they get their due.”

Naidu, who is due to take oath to VP office at 10 AM on Friday, disagreed with the view that there was growing intolerance, saying Indian society was the most tolerant in the world because of its people and civilisation. There is tolerance, he said, and that is why democracy is so successful. “If you single out one community, other communities will take it otherwise. That is why we say all are equal. Appeasement for none, justice for all,” Naidu said.

Read | Venkaiah Naidu all set to take oath as 15th Vice President of India at 10 AM today

His Comments come four days after Ansari, speaking at the annual convocation of the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru, expressed concern over “enhanced apprehensions of insecurity amongst segments of our citizen body, particularly Dalits, Muslims and Christians”.

Earlier in the day, speaking in Rajya Sabha Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “it is possible that there was some restlessness within you as well but from today you will not face that crisis”. He told Ansari “you now have the joy of being liberated, and the opportunity to work, think and speak according to your core beliefs”.

Read | Vice President-elect Venkaiah Naidu says India is best model of secularism