‘Spare her,’ says Kejriwal after Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks on Mother Teresa

I worked wid Mother Teresa for a few months at Nirmal Hriday ashram in Kolkata. She was a noble soul. Pl spare her.

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 24, 2015

On Monday, while inaugurating an orphanage and a women’s home in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, Bhagwat had said, “Here we will not provide service like that rendered by Mother Teresa. It is possible that her kind of work wasgood but there was a motive behind that service. It was to convert those she served to Christianity. Someone wants to convert others to Christianity, that is another thing, but to do it under the garb of social service is to devalue that service. Here, nothing like that will happen. In our country, social service is done like this, selflessly, completely selflessly.”

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Bhagwat’s comments immediately drew a barrage of strong reactions from Congress leader Sachin Pilot to Trinamool spokesperson Derek O’Brien.

“This sort of talk by hardline right-wing forces casting aspersions on eminent people like Mother Teresa is a deliberate attempt to whip up negative emotions and distort history. If these people call themselves nationalists, they should engage in nation building,” said Pilot, who is the state Congress president in Rajasthan.

Now what will the pinstripe suit say to the khaki shorts about his views on Mother Teresa #condemn

— Derek O’Brien (@quizderek) February 23, 2015

Condemn Mohan Bhagwat’s uncharitable remarks against Mother Teresa. Pl respect her dedicated service to the poor and under privilege.

— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) February 24, 2015

The RSS chief’s remarks come less than a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government “will ensure that there is complete freedom of faith and that everyone has the undeniable right to retain or adopt the religion of his or her choice without coercion or undue influence”.