New Delhi: Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday alleged there was a "systematic, orchestrated and malicious" campaign by opponents to target the BJP-led NDA even as he stressed that while fringe elements should be segregated, not everybody should be painted with the same brush.
"This is a systematic, orchestrated, malicious campaign across the country by our opponents for whatever reason. Some people are misled and some people are misleading them.
"This is not good for the country," the Urban Development Minister said at a cultural event here in an apparent reference to the protest by authors, filmmakers and intellectuals over what they have charged is "growing intolerance" in the country.
"India is a huge country of 125 crore with different religions, languages, beliefs, sects, different ways of worshipping and different ways of speaking. If some incident is happening, which is condemnable, we should condemn it," he said at the Rashtra Sanskriti Mahotsav.
He added at the same time that "we should all condemn them, but we should never try to defame India (and) whoever is doing it, is doing a great disservice".
At the event which was attended by Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma and Governor of Nagaland and Assam, PB Acharya, Naidu said that incidents of the sort which have sparked the intellectuals' protest had occurred earlier as well and added that, "at that time they were condemnable and they are condemnable now also".
However, it would be wrong to generalise anything, he said.
"I don't want to criticise anybody nor do I want to say anything, but I will only say that whoever is indulging in (such incidents), they are fringe elements. They are bringing bad name not only to themselves but to others as well.
"They should be segregated, they should be isolated and they should be condemned," he said, adding that, "at the same time, we should all feel proud of our rich culture, the Indian history".
Saying that incidents that threaten to disturb the peace should not be linked, he further opined that "these should be linked with the (person) who has done it. Action is to be taken against that person, and only that person is to be condemned. We have to keep that in mind."
Naidu further added, "Terror has no religion and a separatist is a separatist, they are the enemies of the people, this is to be understood. We should not attach them to any particular religion."
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