Street not the place to debate foreign policy: Arun Jaitley

Watch Video

Asked about the Shiv Sena storming the BCCI office in Mumbai Monday against resumption of cricketing ties with Pakistan, Jaitley said he would urge the Sena to realise that it is part of the central and state governments and has a responsibility.

[related-post]

“Issues like relations with neighbouring countries will have to be conducted on the basis of a very well thought-out strategy. They can’t be conducted in a manner on the streets itself. That can’t decide how we deal with our neighbouring countries. And therefore, I think it is extremely important that every political party, including my friends in the Shiv Sena, realise the importance of this,” he said.

The Sena forced cancellation of a concert by Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali and scuttled talks Monday between chiefs of the Indian and Pakistani cricket boards. Last week, the Sena used ink to blacken the face of Sudheendra Kulkarni in Mumbai for hosting the launch of former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri’s book. In New Delhi, J&K MLA Engineer Rashid was attacked Monday by a Hindu outfit.

Underlining that there could be no room for vandalism in any form of protest, Jaitley said: “I think this applies equally to all.

We will all have to have the same standard whether it is somebody belonging to a political opposition or somebody belonging to a political friend… I think the fact that we have to convey our opinion and differences in a more restrained manner is something which all of us have to realise.”

“It is important that people indulging in this are strongly criticised. All right-thinking sections will have to distance themselves from such methodologies,” he said.

He said what is “disturbing” is that when these acts of vandalism are “publicised”, many others feel encouraged to use similar methods. “So, you have actually seen a kind of copycat vandalism in at least two-three parts of the country in the last few days where protests have been registered,” he said.

In a large country such as India, he said “divergent views” on many subjects are possible. “But we have a tradition of civility in conveying different opinions.”

Referring to incidents like the killing of Akhlaq in Dadri over beef rumours, the murder of rationalist M M Kalburgi and the Udhampur attack that killed a Valley trucker, Jaitley said: “Some of these issues are extremely serious, some can reflect on inter-community relations, others can reflect on sensitive areas such as Jammu and Kashmir.”

Those using these methods, including copycat vandalism, must “introspect” whether they are adding to the quality of Indian democracy or reducing the credibility of India, he said.

Responding to questions on statements made by BJP leaders in the wake of the Dadri incident and whether action should be taken against them, Jaitley said, “You see, after the Prime Minister’s comment, the (BJP) president (Amit Shah) had called three gentlemen. He has very firmly told them that their statements are not appreciated by the party at all. They have been put on notice. Therefore, I am sure that they corrected themselves”.

He said as a political organisation, as a party and as a government, “our spokesmen are acting with utmost restraint and by various statements including the present one I am making to you, we have outright shown our disagreement with these kind of statements”.

He said the media too has a national role to play and should not allow it to be used as an oxygen by people indulging in these “outlandish behaviour”.

“While we have a responsibility in public space to make sure that we distance from this kind of a behaviour, the kind of publicity that they get should also not be such that this leads to copycat vandalism which we have seen in the last few days,” he said.

— With PTI