Daijiworld Media Network
New Delhi, Apr 18: After being taunted as ‘Maun Mohan Singh’ by the BJP throughout his tenure as Prime Minister, former PM Dr Manmohan Singh said PM Narendra Modi should 'follow his own advice' and 'speak more often'.
In an interview to Indian Express, Singh took a dig at Modi for maintaining long silence over the recent Kathua, Unnao rape cases that sent shock waves across the country.
Singh said that he was glad when Modi broke his long silence on birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar saying 'daughters of India' will get justice and guilty won’t be spared.
"I do feel that those in authority must speak up in time (so as) to give a lead to their followers," he said, adding Modi’s failure to speak up earlier led to people thinking they can get away without stern action being taken against them.
Singh said that he was aware of the taunts by the BJP and then Gujarat CM Modi, when he was the PM. "Through press (reports) I know that he used to criticize me for not speaking up. I feel that the advice that he used to give me, he should follow it himself," he said.
However, he added that the Congress government did speak up during the gruesome Delhi gang rape case in 2012. "We took necessary action, we amended the laws, and we set up a commission under Justice Verma. We did act when we got to know all the facts of the case," he stressed.
Singh opined that J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti could have handled the case “more seriously, taking matters into her hands right from the beginning and taken a firm stand”. The delay could have been due to pressures on her from her coalition partner BJP. “There are bound to be pressures…but if it is carried to such an extent that you can condone the sad demise of an eight-year-old girl having been raped and kept for a week in a temple, that is the most shocking thing,” said Singh.
He lashed out at BJP for giving the incident a communal colour and termed it “disgraceful”. Just before the 2019 general elections, many of the BJP’s state governments are “turning a blind eye” to law and order issues, he blamed. Atrocities against women, minorities and Dalits are on rise, a clear indication that people are misusing the authority of government.
"The BJP government at the Centre could send instructions to its state governments to ensure that law and order is properly enforced," he advised.