Imposing uniformity a dangerous tendency, says Congress

Guwahati, May 28 (IANS) Slamming the NDA government over restrictions on beef and rising incidents of cow vigilantism across the country, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Sunday termed imposing uniformity in a multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-ethnic country like India a dangerous tendency.

"I do not think that there should be a ban on peoples' food habit, dress and their thinking process. We are a federal country and there are people of different religious and ethnic affiliations. So it would be dangerous to dictate uniformity," he said at a press conference here.

The government must leave it to the states and the people or to the society of the particular area, said the former Union Minister on the occasion of "Betrayal Day" -- marked as such by the Assam unit of the Congress to protest "betrayal" by the BJP during three years of its rule at the Centre and one year in Assam.

Sharma also slammed the incidents of rising incidents of cow vigilantism, saying thugs and lumpen elements cannot be allowed to rule.

"We are a democracy, we have the Constitution and there is law. Let law take its own course of action," he said, adding that lynching has become common everywhere in the country under the NDA rule.

He termed the Narendra Modi government's policy on Pakistan a "diplomatic disaster". "They do not know diplomacy and all are just photo opportunities for them -- 538 jawans and officers of the Indian Army died in last three years during terrorist related attacks in the country and over 200 of them were killed in Kashmir alone."

Sharma also attacked the government's handling of Kashmir, saying it has failed but Modi is not admitting his mistakes. "He must take the country into confidence and chalk out a comprehensive policy to handle issues," he said.