Debate, don't indulge in vandalism: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Against the backdrop of throwing black ink on Sudheendra Kulkarni and the roughing up of Jammu and Kashmir MLA Engineer Rasheed at Delhi’s press club, finance minister Arun Jaitley came out strongly against the growing intolerance and vandalism in society and underlined the need for a more “civilised” form of protest.

Jaitley, however, emphasised that he was not referring to the controversial remarks made by some BJP lawmakers and ministers in the last few days and said no party leader has indulged in any act of vandalism while engaging in criticism.

“The last few days have seen an extremely disturbing trend where some people have been resorting to vandalism as an instrument of registering their protest or conveying their views. It is quite possible that in a large country like India there may be divergent views on many subjects. But we have had a tradition of civility in conveying those different opinions also, particularly as some of these issues are very serious,” Jaitley said.

He maintained while having a contrarian view on various issues, including highly sensitive ones, is understandable in a democracy, the debate and discussion on such matters has to be in a “proper civilised manner”. Those who wish to protest should endeavour to raise the level of debate rather than resort to vandalism, he said.

He reasoned the huge publicity that such protesters get by indulging in vandalism is perhaps acting as an encouragement for others to engage in them. Jaitley’s words come at a time when the ink attack on Kulkarni by Shiv Sainiks and the assault on Rashid have been hotly debated.

The FM denied that BJP leaders have indulged in such acts. “I don’t think anybody in BJP has resorted to these methods.”