NEW DELHI, Oct 23: Home Minister Rajnath Singh today ticked off Union Ministers V K Singh and Kiren Rijiju for their controversial statements and said they can’t get away by saying that they were misinterpreted.
“We can’t get away by saying that statements were misinterpreted or twisted. We need to be extra careful while putting forth our views,” he told reporters here.
The Home Minister’s snub came a day after External Affairs Minister V K Singh said that the Centre cannot be blamed if somebody throws a stone at a dog in connection with the killing of two Dalit children in Faridabad, which sparked outrage. Minister of State for Home Rijiju had also drawn flak on Wednesday after he said that he agreed with a former LG of Delhi who had once remarked that north Indians “take pride in and enjoy” breaking rules.
“I feel that as leaders of the ruling party, we must all be extra cautious while making any statement,” the Home Minister said.
Rajnath Singh said Ministers and BJP leaders must ensure that their statements were reflected in proper perspective and no wrong message is communicated through them.
“We should also ensure that there is no possibility of our statements to be interpreted in the wrong way or send an incorrect message,” he said.
Singh said his Ministerial colleagues — V K Singh and Kiren Rijiju — had already given clarification on their statement and matters should come to end.
V K Singh’s statement kicked up a huge political row when he tried to shield the government from blame in the Faridabad Dalit burning incident, saying the “government cannot be held responsible if somebody stones a dog”.
The dog analogy provoked demands for his ouster by the opposition, which sought registration of a criminal case against him under the Scheduled Castes Prevention of Atrocities Act.
Later, he gave a clarification on his statement saying his remarks were misinterpreted. He asked the media not to twist words out of context.
Rijiju had on Wednesday said he agreed with the statement of a former Lt Governor of Delhi who had once remarked that north Indians “take pride in and enjoy” breaking rules.
“I was witness to a statement made by one of the Lt Governor’s of Delhi some years back. He had stated that people of north India enjoy breaking the rules and by evening he was forced to apologise.
“But I believe what he said was right,” he had said on the sidelines of a function for inauguration of a think tank on police-related subjects.
Rijiju too yesterday gave a clarification on his statement saying it was not indicated at one section but was applicable to the entire society. (PTI)
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