Apocalypse of hatred, bigotry, intolerance, untruth engulfing country: Sonia Gandhi

Hatred bigotry and intolerance were engulfing the country and if not stopped these would damage the society beyond repair Congress president Sonia Gandhi has allegedIn a newspaper article she called upon people not to allow this to go on and urged them to stop this raging fire and tsunami of hate that will raze all that has been so painstakingly built by past generationsAn apocalypse of hatred bigotry intolerance and untruth is engulfing our country today If we dont stop it now it will if it already hasnt damage our society beyond repair We simply cannot and must not allow this to go on We as a people cannot stand by and watch as peace and pluralism are sacrificed at the altar of bogus nationalism she said in an article in The Indian ExpressLet us contain this raging fire this tsunami of hate that has been unleashed before all that has been so painstakingly built by past generations is razed to the ground Gandhi wroteShe quoted Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagores Gitanjali to say its verses were all the more relevant and have heightened resonance nowOver a century ago the poet of Indian nationalism gave the world his immortal Gitanjali of which perhaps the 35th verse has become the most celebrated and most quoted Gurudev Tagores prayer with its seminal lines starting Where the mind is without fear is all the more relevant and has heightened resonance todayIn the article A Virus Rages the Congress chief asked Does India have to be in a state of permanent polarizationShe alleged that the ruling establishment clearly wants the citizens of India to believe that such an environment was in their best interestWhether it is dress food faith festivals or language Indian are sought to be pitted against Indians and the forces of discord are given every encouragement overt and covert History both ancient and contemporary is continuously sought to be interpreted to promote prejudice animosity and vengeance she claimedHer article comes in the wake of the Hijab row violence during Ram Navami and the clash in the Jawaharlal Nehru University over serving nonvegetarian food in the hostel mess on the occasionGandhi alleged it was a travesty that instead of utilizing the resources for creating a bright new future for the country and engaging young minds in productive ventures time and valuable assets were being used up in attempts to refashion the present in terms of an imagined pastNoting there was much talk from the prime minister about acknowledging Indias diversity she claimed the harsh reality was that under the ruling dispensation the rich diversity that defined and enriched the society for centuries was being manipulated to divide us and worse to harden and get more firmly entrenched in themThe rising chorus of hatred the unconcealed instigation of aggression and even crimes against the minorities is a far departure from the accommodating syncretic traditions in our societyThe Congress chief alleged There is something else more insidious that is part of this new grand divisive plan to keep India in a state of permanent frenzy All dissent and opinion that are opposed to the ideology of those in power are sought to be ruthlessly stifled Political opponents are targeted and the full might of the state machinery is unleashed against themIn the article she claimed that activists were being threatened and sought to be silenced while social media particularly was being used to propagate what can only be described as lies and venomFear deception and intimidation have become the pillars of the socalled maximum governance minimum government strategy Gandhi saidSharing a screenshot of the article on Twitter Rahul Gandhi said Every Indian is paying the price for the hate fuelled by BJPRSS Indias true culture is that of shared celebrations community and cohesive living Lets pledge to preserve thisLeader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge shared an online link of Sonia Gandhis article on the microblogging site and said The sense of hatred and animosity is prevalent in the nation constantly fuelled by the ruling party BJPThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever