NEW DELHI
\nFormer vice-president Hamid Ansari has said that it is not fair to claim that those who made derogatory comments about Prophet Mohammad (SAW) were \u201clightweight\u201d and underlined the government had been mum when anti-minority and anti-Muslim hate speeches were made at various \u2018Dharm Sansads\u2019.
\nHamid Ansari in an interview to BBC Hindi also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s silence on the matter was \u201cvery meaningful\u201d and not accidental.
\nAsked about Qatar and other countries\u2019 reaction to the controversial remarks, he said it is not fair to say that those who gave these statements about the Prophet were \u201clightweight\u201d as they were functionaries of the ruling party.
\n\u201cBut what is important is that this is not just about one statement. In the last few months, many statements of this nature have been made. In various Dharm Sansads, anti-minority and anti-Muslim hate speeches were given,\u201d he deplored.
\n\u201cThe words may be different, but the government was completely mum and if any action was taken it was very late with no meaning,\u201d he said. It\u2019s not sudden, it was building up for some time and the government was tolerating it because there is a policy, Ansari claimed.
\nOn whether India should apologize, the former vice president said, \u201cI don\u2019t think the Government of India should apologise because in diplomacy there are many mechanisms to deal with differences amongst the countries.\u201d
\nAsked why the prime minister or the foreign minister was silent, he said, \u201cThe prime minister, home minister and foreign minister are the people who are expected to speak. But they all are silent.\u201d
\nPM Modi has excellent relationships with the heads of all the Gulf countries but his silence is very meaningful, it\u2019s not accidental, he claimed.
\n\u201cIt can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, it can be said the prime minister does not disapprove of what has been said by the BJP spokesperson or it can also be said that he approves of what has been said,\u201d the former vice-president said. =DNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has said that it is not fair to claim that those who made derogatory comments about Prophet Mohammad (SAW) were \u201clightweight\u201d and underlined the government had been mum when anti-minority and anti-Muslim hate speeches were made at various \u2018Dharm Sansads\u2019. Hamid Ansari in an interview to BBC Hindi also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8484,8486,8485],"class_list":{"0":"post-265964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-anti-muslim","9":"tag-hamid-ansari","10":"tag-hate-speeches"},"yoast_head":"\n