Intolerance issue was part of motivated campaign: Jitendra Singh

Jammu: The issue of 'intolerance' was part of a motivated campaign as the minorities in the country were safer under the Narendra Modi-led government, Union minister Jitendra  Singh on Saturday said.

"The controversies in the name of intolerance are a part of a motivated campaign, and never before the minorities were so safe as they are now under the Narendra Modi regime," Singh, Minister of State in the PMO, said while addressing public meeting in R S Pura today.

After the Modi government took over at the Centre, a number of independent news agencies had put forth the inference that the Muslim community felt most safe under the BJP-led regime because it was more sensitive to their sensibilities, he said.

The present government and the BJP follows a policy of "justice for all, appeasement to none" based on the principles of equality and true secularism, in contrast to the political parties for whom secularism is practiced by convenience, he said.

Lashing out at some of the litterateurs and artists, who recently returned their awards, Singh said that a true writer or artist will never think of returning award and try to live up to the credentials of the award bestowed upon him.

"It is for this reason that immediately after independence, a number of eminent writers from minority community came forward to constitute Progressive Writers Forum and opposed the partition of sub-continent," he said.

Singh announced setting up of a Kendriya Vidyalaya in the vicinity and said a proposal will be submitted for establishing a Government of India-aided skill development center to generate employment for the youth.

He assured the local MLA of all support to get the bottlenecks cleared for pending works like construction of Panchayat Ghar and upgradation of local High school which pertains to the state government.

Lauding the role of minorities, particularly the Sikh community, for standing up bravely for the cause of Jammu during the times of adversity, Singh said that the Labana community comprises an essential component of the state's social fabric and he will take up their demand for Other Backward Community (OBC) status with Centre whenever their representatives visit Delhi.