US President Donald Trump calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi “Father of India” is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday.
Trump on Tuesday heaped praise on Modi in New York.
“I remember India before was very torn. There was a lot of dissension, fighting and he brought it all together. Like a father would. Maybe he is the father of India,” Trump had said.
“Well, I am certainly not proud of the ‘praise’ and think it is an insult to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi,” Ramesh said.
He also attacked BJP leader Jitendra Singh for saying that those who do not feel proud of Trump’s comment that Modi is the father of India, do not consider themselves Indians, India Today reported.
“So my friend Dr Jitendra Singh, will you out me as a non-Indian? Do so if this is your criteria,” Ramesh tweeted.
Congress spokesperson Rajiv Tyagi said the people of India are very knowledgeable and smart, and they can make out who the father of the nation is and there is no doubt that it is Gandhi.
“The Father of the Nation can only be one person and that is Mahatma Gandhi, as he preached non-violence and he is revered across the world,” he said.
Asked if Modi, who is the prime suspect in 2002 Gujarat riots wherein over 1044 Indian Muslims were killed by a state-backed Hindu mob, was not a proponent of non-violence, Tyagi said Indians are very intelligent and they would not go by any foreign leader’s remark, as they know how to take their decisions.