New Delhi, Nov. 30 (The Telegraph): The BJP today launched a counter-offensive in Parliament on the Opposition and award returnees, calling the latter "mercenaries" and questioning whether they had deserved the awards in the first place.

It dubbed the intolerance debate a "deliberate ploy to malign the government", accusing political rivals and a section of the intelligentsia of lacking concern about "how this was tarnishing India's image".

Amid cheers from the treasury benches, Delhi MP and party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi ripped into the Opposition while playing up the "humiliation and hurt" caused to the majority community.

Lekhi condemned those who had returned their awards as "intellectual mercenaries", alleging these awards had been "rewards given to them for political considerations".

Her party members thumped their desks as she said: "Some people are intolerant about this duly elected government. They never protested when riots happened in the past, books were banned (and copies of) the Shah Commission report (on the excesses of the Emergency) were burnt."

Lekhi counted two law violations in Dadri - a cow slaughter and a murder - and blamed Uttar Pradesh's Samajwadi Party government for both.

Mohammed Akhlaque was lynched near Dadri on September 28 after being accused, without proof, of having eaten and stored beef.

Lekhi blamed the burning of two Dalit children in Haryana on personal enmity. She defended Delhi police for entering the Kerala Bhavan canteen in search of beef, saying the sale of beef dishes could have caused anger and a repeat of Dadri. No beef was found, however.

She said popular sentiments about the cow should be respected and dared political opponents to change the cow slaughter laws in states ruled by them.

"The country will be run by the rule of law," she repeatedly thundered, accusing the Opposition of creating a religious divide for political gains.

Lekhi seemed to be speaking about the provocative statements by BJP members when she said: "The majority community is subjected to humiliation; their aatmiyata (goodness) was repeatedly wounded. This pain is manifested in our articulation."

She accused the Opposition of underestimating the people's political sense and asserted that the government would defeat their designs through statistics, logic and reason.

Earlier, CPM member Mohammad Salim and Congress member K.C. Venugopal had castigated the government over intolerance.

Trinamul's Dinesh Trivedi and Biju Janata Dal member Bhartruhari Mahtab, however, surprised many in the House with their mild speeches. The debate will continue tomorrow.

Venugopal listed various incidents of intolerance and provocative statements, saying the Centre could not escape responsibility because the "conspirators were Right-wing extremists" in all the cases.

He said former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief M.S. Golwalkar had declared that only Hindus can live in India and others must submerge their cultural identities. Venugopal hoped that the people would teach a lesson to those out to "ruin India".

Salim said radical Hindus were doing to India what the Taliban had done to Afghanistan.

"All communal forces use religion as a shield while spreading poison among the people," he said.

"How many people will you send to Pakistan? Indian Muslims had rejected Pakistan and chosen to nurse India. Will you send (N.R.) Narayana Murthy (of Infosys) and Raghuram Rajan (the Reserve Bank governor) also to Pakistan if you ask Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan to go to Pakistan?"

Photo credit: The Telegraph