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Outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari, in a candid conversation with journalist Karan Thapar for Rajya Sabha TV on Wednesday, expressed his concerns about the political climate of the times, with an emphasis on the position of minorities in our country.
Against the backdrop of increasing incidents of intolerance, particularly the lynchings in the name of cow protection, Ansari commented on a growing sense of fear and insecurity among Muslims in India.
The 80-year-old Rajya Sabha chairman’s second five-year term as India’s vice-president will conclude on Thursday.
Speaking about the recent episodes of lynching, “ghar wapsi” amid others, Ansari said that these signaled a “breakdown of Indian values, breakdown of the ability of the authorities at different levels... to be able to enforce what should be normal law enforcing work and over all the very fact that Indianness of any citizen being questioned is a disturbing thought.”
Ansari agreed with the belief that the Muslim community had reason to be insecure, owing to the kind of comments being made against them. Ansari said:
When asked about the Supreme Court order making it mandatory to play the national anthem before every film screening, and the more recent Madras High Court ruling on the ‘Vande Mataram’, Ansari said:
Deeming it unnecessary to prove one’s nationalism constantly, Ansari added: “I am an Indian and that is it.”
Speaking out against triple talaq, Ansari called it a “social aberration” and said it is not a religious requirement. Clarifying his stance on triple talaq as a Muslim, Ansari said:
Ansari went on to assert that reform must come from within the community and that the courts need to intervene.
Talking about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Ansari, who happens to be a former diplomat, called the problem mainly a political one, and asserted its need to be “addressed politically”. Agreeing to a suggestion that politicians were dodging the issue, Ansari said:
When asked about the India-China standoff at Doklam, Ansari said:
(With inputs from PTI)
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