- 12 minutes ago
Former Vice President Hamid Ansari has triggered a political row after citing an observation attributed to former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during the A.G. Noorani Memorial Lecture. Quoting from a book, Ansari referred to Nehru’s reported view that Hindu right-wing communalism posed a greater threat to India than communism. The remarks drew criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party, while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath described them as an insult to Sanatan traditions. Cleric Umar Ahmed Ilyasi also criticised Ansari. His supporters highlighted his career as a diplomat and scholar.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The BJP and the Congress are at war over just two stanzas.
00:05The first two stanzas of Vande Matram sung in the Karnataka State Assembly
00:09and on comments made in the presence of Rahul Gandhi with reference to Maa, Mother.
00:16So angry are BJP leaders on this comedy on stage at Chhatro Ki Goonja Dindor
00:22that they've actually called Rahul Gandhi words to the effect
00:26asanskari naraz upha or uncultured angry uncle.
00:31And it's not just BJP karekartas, union ministers have done so.
00:35The Congress has hit right back at the BJP telling them to look within
00:39at insults that were hurled at Sonia Gandhi in the past.
00:43And the war over former Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari's comments
00:47citing former Prime Minister, Independent India's first Prime Minister,
00:51Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's remarks on the dangers to India
00:55where Hamid Ansari quoted Pandit Nehru saying
00:58words to the effect, the real danger to India was not communism
01:02but Hindu right-wing communalism.
01:07Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, he dived straight into this controversy.
01:12He came out all guns blazing, targeting Hamid Ansari.
01:15Yogi Adityanath said, and I quote,
01:18His statements were truly frightening.
01:23Statements against India.
01:25Statements against Indian culture and Indian tradition.
01:29And these statements are part of an agenda
01:31of some effort to tarnish India's image globally
01:36which is constantly being propagated by anti-India forces.
01:40He made statements purely criticising India's eternal tradition,
01:46insulting India's Hindu tradition,
01:48and there were some attempts to link it to terrorism.
01:53The BJP sees former Vice President Hamid Ansari,
01:57who incidentally was also a career diplomat,
01:59as a repeat offender.
02:01The BJP cites his past statements like the one he made in 2020
02:06where Hamid Ansari said, words to the effect,
02:10the COVID-19 as a pandemic is bad enough.
02:14But before that, our society became a victim of two other pandemics,
02:19religiosity and strident nationalism.
02:23For Hamid Ansari, religiosity and strident nationalism are a pandemic.
02:30But the same Hamid Ansari backed the proposal of opening Sharia courts in India.
02:36Was that secularism?
02:38This is the time when Hamid Ansari said,
02:41each community has the right to practice its own personal law.
02:45So, if the Hindu community wants to follow something,
02:48that is strident nationalism,
02:50that is religiosity,
02:52for right-honorable Hamid Ansari.
02:54But then, as Vice President of India,
02:57he was okay with Sharia courts coming up in India.
02:59We'll debate that.
03:00Coming up at 8.30 tonight,
03:01from the political war at 8 p.m.
03:04to the war between Russia and Ukraine
03:06and war clouds over Iran once again.
03:08That big story coming up at 8.30,
03:11where we also get you reports from Pakistan,
03:13where former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's three sisters
03:16have been arrested and sent to jail.
03:19They may be in jail for the next 30 days.
03:22Why?
03:23Because Asim Munir is scared.
03:25The Pakistan government is scared.
03:27A desperate Pakistan government wants to ensure
03:30that there are no nationwide protests
03:32starting the 27th of September,
03:34seeking Imran Khan's release.
03:36Imran Khan has been in jail
03:38for the past three years and counting.
03:41So, we have action-packed 60 minutes on India First.
03:45But first, our political bureau with our top story.
03:50From Parliament to Karnataka streets.
03:56And now, the Karnataka Assembly.
03:59Vande Mataram is once again
04:00at the heart of a political showdown.
04:03On Monday, the Assembly opened its session
04:05with the National Song.
04:07But the Congress government stopped
04:09after the first two stanzas.
04:11The BGP refused to stop there
04:13and continued singing the remaining stanzas
04:16inside the house.
04:18The Congress says it opted for a shorter rendition.
04:22If I'm not wrong, the other four stanzas were,
04:25if I could read, if I could remember,
04:27it was told by Rabindranath Tagore only,
04:29whether to be continued or not,
04:31because the other four stanzas does not include,
04:33because there is an issue where other minorities
04:35in those times they had made an objection.
04:38This was discussed long back since from years together.
04:41Now, all of a sudden, the great Vishwa Guru
04:44does not have anything, so he brought this.
04:46So, most of the people, they don't know to sing.
04:48Anyway, singing, whether they know or not,
04:49but what is the interest to get is only this only.
04:52I challenged them, right,
04:53let them sing the entire Vande Mataram
04:56without a piece of paper,
04:58without a mobile, or without a teleprompter.
05:00Were they able to sing that?
05:02Today, you saw them, they were fumbling.
05:05Despite having the printed sheet with them,
05:09they were fumbling.
05:10They don't even know what it is.
05:12The BGP says, the complete version must be played,
05:16citing a central government directive.
05:32The BGP says, the BGP says,
05:34the BGP says,
05:36the BGP says,
05:59The BGP has accused the Congress government of appeasement politics.
06:05It says,
06:06Vande Mataram's place in India's freedom struggle
06:09demands that the song be accorded its full honour.
06:12Written by Bunkim Chandra Chattopadhyay,
06:15Vande Mataram has now returned to the political spotlight.
06:18A song that once united voices against colonial rule,
06:22now becoming the latest flashpoint between rival political camps.
06:27With Nagarjun Dwarkanath,
06:29Bureau Report, India Today.
06:33And there was yet another controversy,
06:35and this time at Chhatro Ki Goonj,
06:38and something that the BGP describes as a disrespectful skit
06:42by an ersanskari naras phoopa.
06:45At Rahul Gandhi's Chhatro Ki Goonj event in Indore,
06:48this happened on Saturday,
06:50the Congress invited a comedian,
06:51Pulkit Mani.
06:52Now, the comedian performed a skit,
06:55a mimicry of sorts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
06:57and mocked an incident involving the Prime Minister
07:00and an elderly lady whom he referred to as Maa.
07:05The BGP slammed the Congress over this mockery,
07:09saying that the party has stooped to a new low.
07:13Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditana said,
07:15Rahul Gandhi is insulting Narei Shakti
07:18and misleading the youth.
07:19The Congress defended the act at Indore,
07:22arguing that the episode was satire,
07:26was mockery.
07:26It wasn't a serious comment or a statement.
07:29The Congress also questioned why
07:30there wasn't similar outrage
07:32when Rahul Gandhi's mother was insulted.
07:36Hear them out.
07:39My friend, how are you?
07:41I'm fine.
07:42How are you, Modi ji?
07:44Great harassment.
07:49Maa ko kursi to.
07:51Maa.
07:53Maa.
07:57My friend, how are you?
08:00I'm fine.
08:01How are you, Modi ji?
08:02Great harassment.
08:07Maa ko kursi to.
08:09Maa.
08:11Maa.
08:17So, this isn't the first such incident.
08:19Last month, Rahul Gandhi and Congress leader
08:21Sandeep Deekshid,
08:22they staged a skit of sorts
08:24to mock Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
08:26foreign policy of using,
08:29and used, you know,
08:30the name of another head of state,
08:32Italian Prime Minister,
08:33Giorgia Meloni.
08:34They were that time
08:35talking about haqpromissi.
08:37The question is,
08:38has politics been reduced to
08:40distasteful mockery
08:41disguised
08:42as such quips?
08:45We'll discuss that in greater detail,
08:47but
08:47there's also a statement
08:49by former Vice President
08:50Hamid Ansari
08:51that's triggered
08:52yet another showdown.
09:01So,
09:02for a moment,
09:03before we get you more reactions
09:04on this,
09:06on what was said,
09:08I want to talk about
09:09former Vice President
09:09Hamid Ansari.
09:11Now,
09:11he too has triggered
09:12a political controversy
09:13of sorts.
09:14He cited an old remark
09:15by Independent India's
09:17first Prime Minister,
09:18Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,
09:20regarding
09:21Hindu right-wing
09:22communalism
09:23as a threat
09:24to India.
09:25Now,
09:26Hamid Ansari
09:26was speaking at the
09:27A.G. Noorani memorial lecture.
09:29Hamid Ansari
09:30cited a book
09:31in which Nehru
09:31was quoted
09:32saying
09:32communism
09:34was not
09:34as significant
09:35a threat
09:36to India
09:36as Hindu
09:37right-wing
09:38communalism.
09:39The Congress
09:40is in the line of fire
09:42with the BJP
09:43hitting out
09:43over these remarks
09:44saying that
09:44comments have exposed
09:45the ideological
09:47stance
09:48of the Congress
09:49party
09:49from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
09:51to Rahul Gandhi.
09:53BJP referred
09:54to remarks
09:54made by Ansari
09:55citing this book
09:56in which
09:57Pandit Nehru
09:58was quoted
09:58saying
09:58communism
09:59was not
09:59a significant
10:00threat
10:01to him
10:02as far as
10:03Hindu
10:03nationalism
10:04was.
10:05BJP said
10:06the Congress
10:06has become
10:07like the
10:08Muslim League
10:10or the
10:10Muslim Maoist
10:12Congress
10:12in totality.
10:14Again,
10:14Uttar Pradesh
10:15Chief Minister
10:15Yogi Adityan
10:16launched a frontal
10:17attack on the
10:17Vice President
10:18saying that
10:19these remarks
10:19showed disrespect
10:20to the
10:21Sanatan traditions
10:22and culture
10:23of India.
10:24Even a senior
10:25Muslim cleric
10:26of the
10:27heading the
10:27Imam body
10:28Umar
10:29Ahmed
10:29Ilyasi
10:30he slammed
10:31Hamid Ansari
10:32accusing him
10:33of provoking
10:33Muslims
10:34and alleging
10:35a larger
10:36conspiracy
10:36behind these
10:37remarks.
10:40Jawaharlal
10:41Nehru's
10:42observation
10:42in an
10:44officer's
10:45meeting
10:45of the
10:46Ministry
10:46of External
10:47Affairs
10:48and recorded
10:49for posterity
10:51by
10:52Foreign
10:53Secretary
10:53Gundavia
10:54and I
10:54quote
10:54those words
10:55the danger
10:57to India
11:00mark you
11:01it is not
11:03communism
11:03it is
11:06Hindu
11:07right-wing
11:08communalism.
11:38Shemaan
11:39Bhato
11:41Bhato
11:41Bhato
11:41the
11:42k
11:42p
11:44Y
11:45so
12:05that
12:09He has written a book that was written in 2019, which was written in 2019, and he has said that
12:21he has said that he has not been so much as the Hindu religion.
12:30foreign
12:30I
12:31I
12:31I
12:31I
12:31I
12:31I
12:33I
12:33I
12:34I
12:35I
12:35I
12:39I
12:40I
12:42I
12:48I
12:50I
12:50I
12:50I
13:01I
13:03I
13:03I
13:05I
13:05I
13:06I
13:08I
13:18I
13:19I
13:34I
13:35I
13:37from vande matram to alleged mockery of reference to ma to hamid ansari's comments the political
13:43battle lines are very clearly drawn joining me on india first is tuhin sina national spokesperson
13:48and author uh bharatia janta party british kalappa is national spokesperson of the congress party
13:53former legal advisor to the karnadaka government rashid kidwai is an author and political analyst
13:58covered the congress party for a very long time and of course the political landscape across the
14:03country and shahzad punawala advocate was with the bharatia janta party and the congress earlier
14:09now joins us as a political analyst gentlemen welcome british kalappa wear your legal hat for
14:16a moment sir a pil has now been filed in the karnadaka high court challenging that the state
14:23lacks legislative competence over the subject of vande matram just the first two stanzas
14:28and not the rest since it's not covered under list two or list three of the seventh schedule bjp
14:34says the congress is doing this only as part of muslim appeasement politics sir see i think i must inform
14:42your viewers you are as to how the first two stanzas alone came to be uh sung in the in
14:501937
14:51there was a committee which was decided which decided that there will be only two stanzas which
14:56were sung mainly because many people don't know this that the remaining stanzas were unknown even
15:02at that point in time even today they are still unknown but even in 1937 it was decided that no
15:09they are largely unknown and these two are something which uh you know are well established therefore we
15:15should stick to this alone right and who decided this this was uh netaji subhasan rabos who decided this
15:22so who are the at the forefront of this decision and the main person who decided this was uh
15:30yes and of course mahatma gandhi and so on and so forth so as far as the indian national congress
15:36is
15:36concerned we are the successors of those eminent leaders and we have no doubt in our mind that only
15:42the first two stanzas will be sung so let the bjp tried it's try its luck in a court of
15:48law let them try
15:49the supreme court let them try in the international court of justice they're most welcome to try
15:53uh you know to uh you know uh say that the entire all the stanzas should be sung but as
16:00far as we are
16:01we are very clear in our minds that only two stanzas will be sung and we'll stick fair enough
16:06fair enough to hint sina how is it muslim appeasement of the congress sites uh you know going with the
16:121937
16:13decision of singing just the first two stanzas of one day matram how is this muslim appeasement in
16:192026
16:24well good evening gaurav good evening everybody the congress may cite instances of 1937 but are they
16:29not aware of the prevention of insult to national honor act 2026 they should sit with omar abdullah
16:37over abdullah will tell them that a law passed by parliament has to be respected by all but this is
16:43the problem with the congress party see in 1905 vande matram had emerged as a clarion call against
16:51britishers when lord karson divided you know the undivided bengal today vande matram has emerged as a
16:58clarion call against radical groups and who are patronizing the radical groups rahul gandhi and
17:05hamid ansari so this is the crucial difference over here the congress party today has emerged as
17:13the modern day muslim league rather the mawadi muslim muslim league congress party and you know any any
17:19attempt to disrespect a law passed by parliament will not be taken well by the people of this country
17:26it's as simple as that you're saying it by the people of this country the government will it act on
17:31it or will the government just make political capital and i'll come to you with that question
17:35in just a moment but i want to bring in rashid kidwai um give me a moment rashid kidwai in
17:402014
17:40when the congress party was reduced to just 44 seats a.k. anthony former defense minister veteran
17:47congress leader he had said words to the effect in a report that congress brand of secularism was being
17:54questioned as tilting towards minority uh or as muslim appeasement bjp accuses the congress of blatant
18:03not just muslim appeasement but being the new muslim league sir singing just the two stanzas does the
18:10congress risk being seen as a party that's doing this for muslim vote bank uh not really because if
18:18you look at you know the congress history and the entire legacy of it nobody can accuse congress of
18:24being uh you know so to say anti-hindoos let me remind you in 1999 when sonia gandhi was congress
18:30president the congress party committee passed a resolution and i remember one line it said that
18:36hinduism is a sole guarantor of secularism in india but if i had not told you that this is a
18:41congress
18:42resolution many would have thought that it's a bgp resolution of harti jansang or shiv sen or any other
18:46so to say the right-wing political party the congress i consider this point uh one of that congress
18:52on a emotive issues many time falls between two stools it is struggling since 2014 when this sort of
19:00majoritarianism came to the fore as a kind of you know political uh tool so congress is a bit struggling
19:06to find its feet sometimes they become a you know janir dhari hindu sometimes they try to uh you know
19:11question uh hindutwa and they bring you know saratan dharma all kind of definitions are there
19:16all political parties struggle the bgp has also struggled to information of 1980 and what we see
19:22them today so this is part and parcel of it you also were referring to a lot of things was
19:27about
19:28mr hamid ansari i just want to remind your viewers hamid ansari has not been member of congress party
19:33not even for a day oh absolutely i'll come to hamid ansari in just a moment because hamid ansari
19:40uh and some of his comments in the past and present require deeper uh you know perhaps
19:47conversation around it and and i shall come to that in just a moment but let me bring in şehzad
19:53poonawala into this conversation do remember he's been with the congress he's been with the bjp he's a
19:59lawyer he speaks very well argues his points very well so şehzad poonawala if the congress says
20:05that singing two stanzas is exactly what gurudev rabindranath tagore decided in 1937
20:12it's not muslim appeasement in fact it's the bjp that is appeasing the hindus by singing
20:18the entire vande matram in 2026 how would you respond sir i would respond by saying that congress
20:26is clueless because in 1896 it was rahmatullah sayani who sung the full vande matram and it was
20:32sung obviously by rabindran tagore ji and if they want to agree with tagore's views then they should
20:37agree with tagore's views on everything not selectively cherry pick him because tagore was
20:42very clear about his stand on islam and christianity too maybe they want to start quoting him on that
20:47too they should look at that before they quote tagore liberally as they want to also why was vande matram
20:54even split into this uh two portion two verses not the six verses it was done because nehru
21:00genuflected before jinna he basically went down on his knees and said jinna you're right muslims get
21:07irritated by vande matram and therefore in 1937 you start by cutting vande matram into two parts and then
21:14you chop this country into two parts you make muslims feel like they are a separate nation and that was
21:19jinna's first big political victory that was the sewing of the seeds of partition and let me tell you even
21:24now it's not a question first of all i am very confused sonya gandhi says stop stop stop and then
21:31jairam ramesh comes and says we sang all the six verses so who's lying is brajesh lying is jairam lying
21:36point one point two uh if they are saying that they are with two stanzas then arif masood sidra maya
21:42rahul gandhi
21:42and others don't even want to sing the two stanzas that you can take up all their statements they have
21:46even problems with two stanzas for instance arif masood in madhya pradesh said now the first two
21:53stanzas which are basically definitions or they are just a description of mahabharati's prakruti
21:58even there they have a problem and i know the full vande matram the six stanzas the third stanza talks
22:04about you know the the will or the resolve of the people of india to come together to defend mahabharati
22:09the fourth stanza talks about how mahabharati is uh you know she's vidya uh she's done done in the
22:16sense of duty the fifth stanza which they say is problematic das praharan dharini is not in the
22:22sense of durga das praharan dharini it is durga ma is unassailable you can't repeat her it is also
22:28talking about how she is a vidya ki daini so these things are all descriptions in a metaphorical sense
22:35for instance if i say uh are prabudev i am not literally calling you prabudev it is a respectful
22:42way of saying vandana matram vande does not mean bowing down vandana means praise in the sanskrit
22:48the word for bowing down is namami it's not namami matram it is vande matram so vande means praise what
22:55difference does it make why are you making muslims a separate uh you know thinking process so you know
23:00when when yeah brijesh kalapa you know when muslims say that they are being othered and
23:07havid ansari has also used words to the effect in a separate context in a separate conversation and
23:12we'll come to him in just a moment now who's othering muslims if they are not joining everyone
23:18in moving forward are they being othered or are politically they are being treated as a separate
23:24vote bank sir and if i may since you're also a lawyer uh par excellence brijesh kalapa the september
23:308 order says only the first two stanzas to be sung at state government program but the karnataka
23:36government also says if a program is attended by the president the vice president the prime minister
23:41and governor all stanzas to be sung so mha order says all occasions national song is to be sung
23:47official version is the only one to be sung who is making this distinction congress party why sir
23:55as far as these two you know points of view are concerned that will ultimately have to be
24:00resolved by a court of law i don't think we need to step ahead of a court of law and
24:04say that this
24:04is the right version but that is the right version now i heard my dear friend shahzad and i heard
24:10the
24:10bjp spokesperson speak with great passion about the one day matram song so i'm just asking thinking to
24:16myself that if they are so if they love the song so much why doesn't the rsa sing it as
24:22their national as
24:22their anthem because they had they don't have the same anthem they have sadavatsale matrabhu may why
24:28don't they adopt this let them adopt the one day matram because one day matram did not begin today
24:34the congress party has been singing one day matram since historical times right and even today even
24:42yesterday forever we've been singing one day matram of course we stick with the two stanzas but the rss has
24:49never sung this why doesn't the rss today decide because there are two very important spokespersons
24:55both who have completely uh you know bought down to the rss so let them say that the rss today
25:02says that today we disassociate ourselves from sadavatsale matram okay we go with one day matram
25:09okay shahzad punawala wants to respond on the legal point also and on the sangh not singing one day
25:16matram as you claim but shahzad and then i'll bring in to him go on sir first of all there
25:23is
25:23there can't be a bigger lie that the sangh does not sing one day matram in fact the one day
25:30matram
25:31is given so much respect by sangh in fact one of the statements of bhaiya ji joshi which had become
25:37a
25:37little controversial was that one day matram should be the real national anthem this is the
25:41statement one day matram should become real national anthem so they have been singing one day matram and
25:45by the way namaste sadavatsale matrabhoomi and one day matram essentially the meanings are essentially
25:51the same and therefore we spend the assembly mr shiv kumar singing it very proudly namaste sadavatsale
25:58matrabhoomi so i think that mr bajesh kalappa is throwing a trap for mr dk shiv kumar okay okay okay
26:05you want to come in uh on the fact that now this matter will have to go to courts of
26:10law there
26:11already is a petition in the karnadaka high court of pil
26:16to insina well i don't i you know i really don't understand what the congress party is you know proving
26:24by by you know showing that they have respect only for two standards because you know obviously before
26:291937 for four decades it was the same congress party which sung it you know everywhere so just
26:36before you know just because you have bowed down to jinnah and now you have a modern jinnah in rahul
26:41gandhi who is hell-bent on not respecting the law which has been passed recently rahul gandhi must spend
26:47some time with umar abdullah and you know no no sir why are you calling rahul gandhi is showing
26:54greater isn't that unfair you're calling leader of opposition modern day jinnah i am sure
27:00brujesh kalappa just does not agree with you and would want to respond to that no no i will give
27:04you
27:05why are you calling him jinnah why are you calling rahul gandhi jinnah i will give you
27:10i will i will give you multiple instances when india were ravished by a series of bomb blasts between
27:162004 and 2009 what was rahul gandhi doing apparently he was sitting in u.s embassy and
27:21saying that the biggest threat to india is from hindu nationalism would anybody apart from somebody
27:26having a pronounced jinnah mentality say that so why should we not call it out this is the mentality
27:32khalid mashal an ex hamas activist was holding a conference in in uh kunur in kerala barely
27:39three weeks after the attack on israel did rahul gandhi condemn it he was a member of parliament
27:43from israel from uh kerala at that point of time so if rahul gandhi needs to be seen you know
27:49as a
27:50positive nationalist forget hindu nationalist he hates the word hindu nationalist he should call out
27:55the radical designs of radical groups which he has been not not been able to do that okay vijesh
28:00kalapa wants to respond especially especially on yes go on sir so it was actually um mr lalkrishna
28:09adwani the senior most leader of the bjp who went to the mazar of jinnah it was not rahul gandhi
28:14i i don't know you know i think the bjp spokesperson ought to read a little more than just whatsapp
28:20university and enroll himself for something to get a newspaper read some you know good channels and watch
28:27some good material i think before making such comments because otherwise there is a prime minister
28:34of india who's known as the butcher of gujarat right so this is not something again distasteful
28:41again distasteful and completely uncalled for uh you know if you're going to say something about
28:46rahul gandhi i did i said that's distasteful that's why i got you to respond to it that that's that's
28:52the
28:52reason i'm saying that if you want to you know drag the debate down a certain path i'm willing to
28:59very well going to join you so that's all i'd like to do in sinai you want to say something
29:05to to
29:05what uh vijesh kalapa said before i bring in rashi could be because on this channel we are very clear
29:11we want a civil debate based on facts and not you know that that happens in other channels
29:17no no you know so the same rahul gandhi who has not found time to go to ram temple in
29:26yodhya had
29:27rushed to barber storm after becoming member of parliament in 2004 and today you know the congress
29:32spokesperson has the gall to say that advaniji went to jinnah's uh you know what did advaniji do over
29:39there he reminded pakistan that at the time of pakistan's formation jinnah wanted it to be
29:46accommodated towards hindu which pakistan is not so you know this congress party if he was doing
29:52this congress party this congress party this congress party you know we are we are we are well past that
30:01but for your understanding you should listen to that statement once again you know that would help
30:06you understand and clear many of your perceptions which your whatsapp universities which your whatsapp
30:12universities have been floating for your understanding i'm saying see on the one hand on the one hand you
30:18keep criticizing the rss and now you want to you know you want to blindly go by what rss said
30:23you why
30:23don't give me a moment give me a moment i want to bring rashid kidwai for a moment because now
30:29i want to move
30:30from vande matram to former vice president hamed ansari's comments and he's now in the line of yogi
30:36aditana's fire has the bjp rashid kidwai actually got a big stick to show from nehru finding the real
30:43danger to india was not communism but hindu right-wing communalism as he put it to rahul gandhi being
30:49quoted in the wiki leaks saying that the bigger threat may be the growth of radicalized hindu groups
30:55which create religious tensions and political confrontations or words to that effect you know
31:00quoted by ambassador timothy romer then in u.s ambassador to india as per wiki leaks has the bjp
31:07now got another stick on this sir so god of there are two aspects of it one relates to hamed
31:13ansari and
31:13about uh other is about rahul gandhi see the bjp because the elections are there and they have a
31:19political right to do so they want to politicize each and everything here i find it very bizarre that god
31:25of you or me if we read a text and if we quote somebody see the criticism if at all
31:30it's warrants
31:31then it should be how is that and there was a context mr uh hamid ansari was talking about uh
31:38you know a writer or author who had written a book about rss and in that context he quoted it
31:45was not
31:45his his formulation now you can no but i'll come down to his formulation also sir i'll come down to
31:50his
31:50formulation also in just a moment uh and and that is also something that needs closer scrutiny
31:56because shahzad poonawala as rashid kidwai very rightly says india is a democracy people may have
32:01different points of view so why target hamid ansari for just quoting nehru ansari was only
32:06quoting nehru as saying that the real danger to india is not communism but hindu right-wing
32:12communalism why train your guns at hamid ansari no no i have no problems with hamid ansari selectively
32:20activating all his uh angst against what india stands for only after he demitted his office
32:26you'd remember that for so many years he was vice president for two tenures and at the fag end of
32:31his tenure he remembered how minorities are insecure and he forgot to remember that at the time of
32:36bhagalpura hashimpur mirat maliana delhi nirli and all of these times when minorities including
32:44sikhs and muslims were chopped at that time he never felt insecure he felt insecure after modi came
32:48to power so he can feel insecure no problem secondly i want to ask mr habir adisari that this entire
32:54ecosystem why don't they come out and they say clearly that they have a problem with hindus i mean
33:00rather than keep saying i have a problem with hindutua but not with hindus to try and draw this
33:04a funny distinction between the two as if my matutua are different or vekti or vektit was
33:08different hindu and hindutua is not different and hindu and hindutua has been defined by the supreme
33:12court as a way of life i want to ask mr hamid ansari did he feel insecure in iran because
33:17in iran
33:18there is no rss trying to go going around killing muslims but wherever that's a very big question
33:24you're asking you're saying people like hamid ansari have a have an issue with hindus
33:29brijesh kalappa i i want you to respond sir i want you to respond one to this two to another
33:35statement of hamid ansari and your views on it the covet 19 and this is when he was speaking in
33:412020
33:42covet 19 as a pandemic is bad enough but before it our society became a victim of two other pandemics
33:50religiosity and strident nationalism hamid ansari the same hamid ansari actually backed the opening of
33:57sharia courts in india and said each community has a right to practice its own personal law so
34:03nationalism is a problem it's a pandemic religiosity is a pandemic but sharia courts that's kosher
34:10i have no views on this in fact if you ask me uh i think the very fact that mr
34:20hamid ansari
34:21has made a certain statement and a monk who's supposed to have given up uh you know uh social
34:30life and who is supposed to have been outside in the fringes of society is somebody who's occupying
34:38center stage as a chief minister so to some extent i find what mr hamid ansari is saying is true
34:44but as
34:45far as a congress spokesperson is concerned okay i have actually nothing to do with this because mr
34:49hamid ansari is entitled to his views if the vjp or government has certain views regarding that
34:55then they're you know they can ask him what is just just just just regarding that the point is that
35:04monk is supposed to have given up you know his uh so why should monks be on the fringes of
35:11society
35:12if you go by the sanatan culture sir if you go by india's civilization if you go by sanatan culture
35:18monks have actually ruled the state and got emperors yes sir they have they have there are
35:26multiple instances and they have been advisors to government to kings sir which is very you know
35:33which is why i'm asking you you are you know are we so detached from the sanatan way of life
35:39that monks
35:40are only meant to be out and never in the system but be that as it may that may be
35:45your view but uh
35:46shahzad poonawala wanted to come in look this is exactly what i'm saying hamid ansari espouses and
35:53echoes the language and the lingo of the congress the congress person has just said monks should be
35:58out of society but maulana azad could have become the i agree with that one second sir one second sir
36:03kishan gaj mp from the congress for a very long period of time was a maulana now if i ask
36:09mr brajesh
36:10kalappa to advocate that maulana should be out of politics you know sony gandhi will take him out of
36:15politics and this is the problem you start targeting nationalism and then that nationalism one day
36:21maatram goes to targeting hindus and then you say hindu terror then you say mandir jane wale ladki
36:27you say mathadish mafia and it's not that you're saying it against every religion as an equal offender
36:34you are saying it only to target the hindus to make them feel that as if they have the onus
36:38of
36:39carrying the cover of secularism and democracy in this country while the rest of the communities
36:44they have a free run so this pampering and abusing pampering of the muslims and abusing of the hindus
36:51is the real problem from nehru to mr hamid ansari can i make a point okay to him yeah you
36:55wanted to come
36:56in on this point because there is something he has said let me just answer that okay okay okay
37:01i just wanted to no no i just want to address i first thing is i i i give me
37:0730 seconds let let
37:09uh british kalappa quickly respond go on sir first thing is i don't know i think shehzad is a muslim
37:14i don't know why he has so much of hatred against the muslims but the important part is this that
37:19as
37:19far as islam is concerned right to the best of my understandings they they do not step out of society
37:26if it's a maulwi or if it's not that's the nature of the religion
37:30but in hinduism when you say that you have become a sanyasi right you have stepped out of society
37:37right so there is a different distinct difference between what hinduism is and what islam is so
37:43merely because uh my friend shehzad is a muslim doesn't mean he can insert islam into the hindu religion
37:50okay uh twin sina you wanted to come in uh you know though what shehzad's religion has to do with
37:56this debate and bulletin i failed to understand but uh respond to him sina why target hamid ansari
38:02uh i i i just wanted to i just yeah yeah i'm just answering that since both my you know
38:09friends from
38:09the other side are so innocent they are asking us why should congress party be blamed for for what
38:15hamid ansari is has said let me address that you know hamid ansari is a proven hindu phobe like you
38:21have yourself mentioned multiple instances even as vice president he was he is known to have attended
38:27a pfi affiliated event rooted for sharia only the present day congress party which is an equal hindu
38:35phobe could have considered a person like him fit to be fit to occupy the position of vice president for
38:43two consecutive terms and like rahul gandhi no for a repeat offender but like i mentioned
38:51like no no what else what else is he you have a problem with hindu nationalism you are quoting from
38:57a book of 2019 during kovid after kovid in fact you have said that india has already seen a wave
39:03of
39:04your hindu you know uh whatever hindu pan nationalism pandemic or whatever he has never let go of an
39:11opportunity to deride hindu sentiments just like rahul gandhi like rahul gandhi uses chhatra ki gong to to
39:19you know spread venom against manuspriti he may have problems with panuspriti like many people today
39:24you know uh point out specific things which are not valid which are not relevant today he could have done
39:30that but he does it in an event standing next to a hijab wearing woman as if the hijab wearing
39:35woman is
39:36impacted by panuspriti this is the hindu phobia of not just rahul gandhi but also you know let me get
39:42let me get rashid let me get rashid kirby into this conversation spreading the subtle hindu phobia
39:48okay you know i completely agree with you hamed ansari was never a part of the congress party
39:52but the bjp says it is this this hindu phobia that this this mindset displays take for example
39:59a statement kovid 19 is as a pandemic is bad enough but before it our society became a victim
40:05of two other pandemics religiosity and strident nationalism and the same hamid ansari backs the
40:12proposal of opening sharia courts in a country now is that not religiosity is that acceptable
40:19and who's othering the muslims then
40:22gaurav we must understand we are a constitutional democracy there is rule of law and as for the
40:28constitution there is no difference between you know citizens on grounds of faith and therefore
40:33you see an attempt is being made a political attempt to put people in boxes and put them under
40:40some kind of test as a you know british parliamentarian norman debbitt used to say
40:45that you know when the uh indian cricket team visits uh uh united kingdom you know the indians
40:50residing in in uk who are maybe british white citizenship they support the you know indian cricket team
40:55so this whole attitude of putting you know people to test on the issue of nationalism
41:01and you know judging their sense of belonging is i think is far-fetched but people cannot be above
41:07questioning there are no mathadish here you know uh something has to be very clear uh if hamid
41:14ansari has said something he should be open to scrutiny if he has said there should be sharia court let
41:20him
41:20be open to scrutiny if he thinks that nationalism is a pandemic let him be open to scrutiny but that
41:26is what i'm saying you're absolutely right gaurav you see but to link him with a with a community
41:31perhaps which he belongs to or a political party that he belongs to is i think unfair and it's
41:36politically motivated fair enough that's a debate that we shall continue to have or was it politically
41:43motivated for a very long time when such statements were being made by certain intellectuals and these were
41:50the intellectuals in our society were they uniting or were they dividing that's a question i leave
41:55our viewers to grapple with i want to thank all our guests many thanks for joining me it's on prime
42:00minister and pakistan tariq insaf party founder imran khan sisters dr uzma khan noreen khan have been
42:07detained for the next 30 days ahead of the party's 27 september protest call this comes a day after the
42:14detention of the third sister alima khan so the pakistan government is cracking down in a big way
42:21on pakistan tariq insaf party leaders ahead of the september 27 countrywide protest the march to
42:27islamabad to secure imran khan's release he's been in jail for three years and counting so pakistani
42:31authorities have actually put containers i want you to see images of containers across islamabad
42:37pakistan is now being called containeristan even within pakistan watch those images this is near
42:45d chalk islamabad containers anyway pakistan has no shipping but just look at the number of
42:52containers that have now been brought in more than 1 000 shipping containers have now been nailed to the
42:58ground thousands of security forces personnel have been mobilized pakistani airstrikes meanwhile in
43:04afghanistan's northeastern kunar province at least three people have been killed afghanistan has
43:09protested watch those images those are funerals taking place in afghanistan and taliban have said
43:15there will be consequences for pakistan i want to quickly bring in sandeep unnithan sandeep when we
43:20look at these images of containers across islamabad fact is pakistan has zero shipping at least some
43:27containers are being put to good use trying to prevent uh pti protests uh absolutely you
43:33you know 40 foot containers are a indication of a nation's prosperity uh the fact that it's a
43:39trading nation but clearly pakistan has more uses for these containers to quell internal unrest than it
43:44does to boost its economy and this has been a pattern that we've seen in the last couple of years
43:51every time the containers move in uh into islamabad that sign of a siege and of course the siege as
43:57we
43:58the major protest march that all of uh the pti is planning to launch towards the national capital
44:04in pakistan next week uh so a lot of precautionary moves have been taken imran khan's sisters are being
44:11arrested there's a crackdown on the uh pakistan terry ke in saf party this situation in pakistan is very
44:18grim sandeep given the fact you had at least 10 to 12 fatalities just yesterday um in in pakistan about
44:2615 fatalities day before yesterday in kohat so hungoo yesterday kohat day before yesterday
44:33kpk uh you know is virtually no longer the writ of the pakistan state does not prevail west of indus
44:40gaurav this is possibly the first time since 1971 that the state of pakistan has been under so much of
44:46internal and external pressure the internal pressures we know there's a insurgency full-fledged
44:51insurgency in balochistan in khyber paktoonkwa they have tensions with afghanistan uh that boy you know
44:58that those sites of those funerals in kunar in afghanistan that's a sign that the taliban are not
45:04going to forgive nor forget they have tensions with on the border with india uh and there's pressure
45:10on saudi arabia to deploy now they never expected uh that uh you know the makkah defense agreement will be
45:17called to action so quickly after it was being signed they just thought it was going to be a photo
45:21op but here you have saudi arabia literally calling them asking them to deploy and pakistan is looking
45:28for every single excuse to not to try and deploy into uh saudi arabia you know you're very right
45:34pakistan appears to have developed cold feet and let me shift focus to that other big story the war in
45:40west asia the crisis is entering a very alarming phase u.s bombers are already airborne iran has
45:48activated what is being called code 100 in tehran its highest level of readiness u.s air force their
45:57activity has intensified across west asia particularly very close to southern iran seven that's the
46:04information we have seven u.s mid air refuelers they're operating over the persian gulf just hours
46:09ago and mq4c triton conducted air surveillance flight uh now this comes after iran's central
46:17military command warned that it has intelligence inputs indicating a possible u.s attack and they've
46:24threatened reaction they've threatened retaliation against american bases across the region so let me
46:29quickly bring you some of the latest developments first u.s president donald trump he cut shot his camp
46:35david getaway he returned to washington dc on saturday apparently he held a high-level security
46:40meeting at the white house and that set the ball rolling benjamin netanyahu he shortened his visit
46:47to the united states general assembly instead of staying through september 25 netanyahu will travel
46:52to america on the 24th deliver his speech and then rush back so no meeting with the u.s president
46:58and
46:58no traveling to texas as was initially planned then iran's supreme national security council chief
47:04mahasin razai he's always concerns that u.s is preparing fresh air strikes adding to concerns two
47:10u.s air force b-1b lancer bombers they took off from the fairford uh airbase in the uk watch
47:17those
47:17images on your television screen so we're told a dozen b-1b bombers are currently stationed in the united
47:24kingdom ready for flights of course they've been carrying out a series of rotations uh but remember
47:31at the onset of tensions in iran a massive build-up there was 15 to 20 heavy bombers they arrived
47:36in
47:36the uk they carried out bombing strikes they're assembling once again sandeep join the dots what's
47:42the big picture that emerges what's happening is we are again it at a uh you know at the precipice
47:50uh
47:50in west asia both uh united states and iran aren't giving up uh iran has threatened to expand the
47:57geography of the conflict they've been very specific this time around they said that
48:01if the united states actually gets those bombers to hit them as you've just uh depicted their bombers
48:07circling in the skies above the persian gulf it's a very tense moment iran is now
48:14iran has been unbending gaurav in the last six months and this resilience has taken the world by
48:19surprise and now they've threatened to expand the geography of the conflict they are in their
48:23highest alert in uh as they've been over several months but this time they believe that a bombing
48:29a u.s bombing campaign as threatened by president trump seems to be imminent one has to you know
48:35literally wait and watch whether this is going to happen during the un uh general assembly that's
48:40underway right now after the unga i want to quickly bring in uh india today groups uh foreign editor uh
48:46uh geeta mohan joining us on this broadcast geeta the united nations general assembly will it be able
48:52to find the any forward movement uh there are top world leaders who will be there president trump is
48:59holding a series of meetings i believe president masood fazeshkian would be um at the unga what happens
49:05now geeta war or peace well uh gaurav it is an opportunity all i can say is that this is
49:11a huge
49:12opportunity uh but the world was uh offered many such opportunities in the past few years
49:17and and certainly in the past few months uh but uh they chose to continue with the confrontation rather
49:24than uh go back to the negotiating table uh this time around in an interview to a u.s media
49:30house uh
49:31president trump has said that he's willing to talk with president position and uh president position is
49:37going to be in new york for the united nations general assembly uh they're going to make some strong
49:41country statements and we'll have to see the fall out of that firstly and whether if then the two
49:47leaders uh will find space diplomatic space to really have a conversation and go back to negotiations
49:54at this point in time all we can see is an opportunity uh that that presents itself to all these
50:00world
50:00leaders will they actually sit down uh grab that opportunity and have a conversation to bring a global
50:08economy back to sanity is something we'll have to wait and see fingers crossed fingers crossed let's
50:14sincerely hope that president trump and president president masood position are able to find forward
50:19movement geeta and sandeep stay with me there's major escalation on the third front which is the russia
50:25ukraine war reports now say at least two people have been killed in a massive ukrainian drone attack in
50:31the moscow region russia has called it the biggest ever drone strike on the russian capital ukrainian
50:38forces fired more than 1 000 drones in the direction of moscow and other cities across russia this
50:45attack took place overnight the attack hit moscow's oil refinery damaged an oil facility russia hit right
50:51back across ukraine they've hit across 10 regions in ukraine the russian defense ministry said its
50:58overnight strikes targeted logistics hub war nerve centers of ukraine including the odessa port and
51:06these strikes have been carried out across ukraine as you see in those images russian drones hit
51:11ukraine's southern city of zaprosia they hit an apartment block a university a shopping mall according to
51:17russia these were places from where drones were being launched at russia russia has also hit ukrainian
51:23cabral kiev a warehouse complex was set on fire after russian drones hit the facility russian forces also
51:29struck a civilian evacuation center setting the facility ablaze injured evacuees were rescued from the site
51:37engulfed in flames geeta can the u.n find a forward movement even here or direct talks between president
51:46zielinski and president trump is there possibility of peace well i do not know whether there can be direct
51:53talks at this point in time but certainly a negotiated conversation that is underway uh can move forward
51:58we do know that uh the the special envoys and negotiators will be new york and yes there is going
52:05to be some forward movement but we do know that europe is uh quite clear in its position when it
52:11comes to
52:11the ukraine war so we are seeing an escalation uh which is uh which is absolutely heightened just ahead of
52:17your unga and it doesn't seem like the two sides are going to go back to the negotiating table with
52:24one
52:24side seed having to cede land and having to cede territory so in such a scenario again for the ukrainian
52:30president it's the end of the road uh end of uh an entire political career a very short one at
52:36that uh
52:37should he cede territory so uh the the start of a conversation where one side has to cede territory does
52:44not seem like one uh which is going to end well or go down well for at least one side
52:49and therefore
52:50gaurav it again is an opportunity we'll have to see whether the leaders are going to take that
52:55or see it as an opportunity in the first place next couple of days will be extremely extremely
53:00dangerous before this unga meet uh sandeep intense bombing on either side and these drone strikes and
53:07jet-powered drones sandeep and gita will be tracking that story very very closely that's all i have for
53:12you on india first this evening many thanks for watching news and updates continue on india today
53:16stay with us
Comments