New Delhi: Breaking his silence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has blamed the Opposition for derogatory comments on his late mother from the platform of a joint Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress event in Bihar, calling it an insult to women across India.
At an event organised around the Voter Adhikar Yatra last week, a man, later identified as Mohammad Rizvi, hurled abuses at the Prime Minister and his mother from the venue where leaders from the RJD and Congress were present, with a purported video of the incident soon going viral on social media.
The Bihar Police, subsequently, arrested Rizvi, a resident of the Darbhanga district, on 29 August. The Opposition has denied any connection with Rizvi.
“What happened in Bihar a few days ago… I had not even imagined it. No one from Bihar, nor anyone from the country, would have imagined it,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday, calling the incident a painful moment for him and questioning what his mother’s fault was, for which she got unnecessarily dragged into the verbal attack.
Launching the Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh Limited via video conferencing, Modi slammed the Opposition.
“From the RJD-Congress platform in Bihar, my mother was abused…. These abuses are not just an insult to my mother…these are an insult to the mothers, sisters, and daughters of the country,” he said.
Earlier, denying the allegations, Congress leader Pawan Khera said that the remark was made by “its (BJP’s) own agent” to create an issue and divert attention from the yatra.
“With their [vote] theft caught, these people are frustrated. Find out who that arrested person is, whose man he is…. The public is watching everything, and the entire country is watching the BJP’s goondaism,” Khera said after the incident.
Over Tuesday’s conference call, the PM said that he was aware that the people of Bihar felt bad hearing the abuses hurled at his mother.
“For our government, the dignity of the mother, her honour, and her self-respect are a very high priority. The mother is our world, the mother is our pride,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, adding that he could not have imagined what happened a few days ago in Bihar, a state known for its rich traditions.
The PM said: “I know how bad all of you, every mother of Bihar, felt after seeing and hearing this. I know, as much pain as I have in my heart, the people of Bihar are also in the same pain.”
Modi also stressed that since the video conference was an opportunity to interact with and take blessings from lakhs of Bihar’s mothers and sisters, he, as a son, felt the need to share his pain so that it would help him overcome it.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, an attendee at the event focused on Jeevika Nidhi, which aims to provide larger loans at lower interest rates to curb dependence on microfinance loans, has condemned the comments on Modi’s late mother, as well.
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‘Mother gave permission to leave’
On Tuesday, Modi asserted that his mother had no connection with politics and passed away after completing 100 years. The PM said he separated from his mother so he could serve other women in India, adding that his mother played a key role in that decision.
The Prime Minister explained that he entered politics late, but he had, for a long time, been serving the country one way or another; his mother had freed him from the responsibilities of looking after her.
“Every mother wants his child to do something for her, but my mother gave me blessings to go and serve the crores of mothers and sisters and the nation and gave me the permission to leave,” he said.
Speaking in Bhojpuri, Modi also said that he may forgive those who hurled abuses at his mother, but India has never tolerated insults directed at a mother.
On Friday, Congress workers clashed with the BJP cadre during a protest carried out over the use of abusive language towards the PM’s mother.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, reacting to the clash between the BJP and Congress workers, posted in Hindi on X: “Truth and non-violence will prevail… untruth and violence cannot stand before them. Beat and break (us) as much as you want… but we will continue to protect the truth and the Constitution. Satyameva Jayate (the truth will always win).”
The PM, in a reminder to the people of Bihar, said that crime and criminals were rampant in Bihar during the RJD era.
“…murder, extortion, and rape were commonplace. The RJD government provided protection only to murderers and rapists. Who had to bear the brunt during the RJD reign? The women of Bihar had to bear it.”
Modi added that parties, such as the RJD, did not want women to advance, which is why they strongly oppose women’s reservation too.
Referring to Rahul Gandhi as Yuvaraj, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The penance of a poor mother, the pain of her son, these are things that princes born into royal families cannot understand. These privileged people are born with a silver spoon in their mouths. They consider the country and Bihar as their family’s inheritance.”
“But the people of the nation have blessed a poor mother’s hardworking son and made him the Prime Servant. This is something the privileged cannot digest. The idea that someone from a backward or extremely backward community could rise is something the Congress has never been able to tolerate.”
A political row erupted in the state, soon after the verbal attacks on Modi’s mother. Senior party leaders of the BJP, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, earlier slammed the Opposition for the incident.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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