K’taka: Kumaraswamy slams Sonia Gandhi over Vande Mataram row

Hassan, Aug 17 (IANS) Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy on Monday strongly criticised Congress leader Sonia Gandhi over alleged opposition to singing Vande Mataram, saying everyone should respect the national song.

Speaking to reporters in Holenarasipura in Hassan district, Kumaraswamy said Parliament had accepted that the song, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, should be treated with due respect.

When reporters pointed out the allegation that Sonia Gandhi herself had objected to the singing of Vande Mataram, Kumaraswamy launched a sharp attack.

He remarked: “What else can one expect from Sonia Gandhi? Is Sonia Gandhi from our country? She came to our country after marriage. The blood flowing in her is Italian blood, isn’t it?”

He added that Congress did not seem to like Vande Mataram and said there was no need for its leaders to display “narrow‑mindedness” on the issue. Kumaraswamy recalled that Vande Mataram had been sung at a Congress session in which Mahatma Gandhi had participated and that Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had also sung the song.

The minister said people were watching everything and claimed that the Congress had already been taught a lesson and would face further punishment in the days ahead.

Reacting to the recent shooting incident in Hanur, Kumaraswamy said the government had issued a bulletin on the incident. Still, the anger and grief expressed by the affected families and local farmers were understandable.

“It is natural for people to be angry when three members of the same family have died. Such incidents can be prevented when the government creates better opportunities and a secure future for people. The government must understand this,” he said.

Kumaraswamy said the government had claimed that the deceased had gone into the forest for deer hunting and that Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had ordered an investigation.

He questioned the manner in which forest personnel opened fire, saying: “That was wrong. If they had fired at the legs or in a manner that did not pose a threat to life, everyone would have accepted it.”

He also criticised the Congress government’s advertisements concerning the Bidadi padayatra and challenged Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to publish the findings of the government’s fact‑finding committee on the issue.

Kumaraswamy alleged that farmers and women farmers had opposed land acquisition and protested for around 500 days.

“Farmers and women farmers have clearly said that they will not give their land. Why are you using force and allegedly sending rowdies to intimidate them? What are you trying to achieve by threatening that grant land will be taken back if people do not surrender their land?” he asked.

He further questioned the government’s insistence on the township project and asked whether alternative land was not available elsewhere.

Kumaraswamy challenged the Chief Minister to make public the report of the Kagodu Thimappa Committee, which he claimed had recommended that a township should not be established there under any circumstances.

“Print the recommendations you made at that time and publish them as advertisements. If you do that, it will save us some money on advertisements as well,” Kumaraswamy said, taking a dig at Shivakumar.

–IANS

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