Shillong, 15 March 2014

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio today wondered if the BJP is called communal, how can Congress be different as it is also “giving undue protection to certain communities”.

“The BJP has been termed as communal. Then what about the Congress? They are also giving undue protection to certain communities which is also communal act,” Rio told reporters here.

“If BJP is communal, the Congress is also communal because they are doing the same thing while trying to shield certain community,” he said.

Rio, also the Convenor of the North East Regional Parties Front (NERPF), an all regional front which became united ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, arrived here to attend a general council of the United Democratic Party (UDP).

Elaborating issues related to 2002 Gujarat riots and the 1984 killing of Sikhs in Delhi, Rio alleged that the Congress is communal.

“In Gurajat, Hindus died, Muslim died, members of public died, police died but in Delhi except the Sikhs nobody died. Not even a single police was injured because they were not out to protect. So the difference of the two is very clear,” he said.

Stating that in a complex country like India, nobody is clean and nobody has the moral authority to point fingers at the other, he said, “No party should run the country by protecting their organisations above national interest.”