'Travesty of truth': Yechury on PM Modi quoting speeches made in Parliament to support CAA

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying quoting parliamentary speeches made in Parliament during partition to justify NRC, NPR and CAA was a "travesty of the truth".

He also accused Modi of "discarding the sanctity" of Parliament for "petty politicking" and said it was a sad day for democracy when it is done by a man "occupying the PM's chair."

Modi tore into the Opposition in marathon combative speeches in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and said those rejected by people in elections are fuelling protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR) for their "vote bank politics"

"Calling Opposition 'liars' by quoting parliamentary speeches during Partition, the largest and most horrendous human transmigration in history, as justification for this unconstitutional CAA/NPR/NRC is a travesty of the truth.

"None of the 70-year-old quotes Modi has read says not giving shelter & citizenship to Muslims. His litany of untruths grows as his policies try to divide our people, destroy our social harmony through spread of hate & violence," Yechury tweeted.

Modi was replying to the debate in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address.

The Motion was later adopted by the two Houses.

The prime minister delivered a stinging rebuttal to the Opposition over most issues its members raised to criticise his government and took on the charge that he pursued communal politics and wanted Hindu Rashtra.

He cited comments of Jawaharlal Nehru to back the law and said the Congress stalwart wanted citizenship for minorities from Pakistan.

Modi said Nehru had wanted to defend minorities in then West Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Yechury also said peaceful protests are against any "division", to protect the Constitution and the country's unity and integrity.

"Indians cannot be differentiated on the basis of caste, religion, creed, gender, colour, food they eat or job they do or who they choose to marry," he said.

Slamming Modi for his comments that there have been statements made by former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir "that are not acceptable to us", Yechury said by "continuing to detain them for over 6 months, you are violating the very Constitution on whose oath you're the PM".

Attacking Modi for his reference to Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, whose feet, the PM said he had the opportunity to touch when he was a child, Yechury questioned how he would have reacted to the 2002 Gujarat riots.

"Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan stood for communal amity, and fought religious discrimination. When he came to Gujarat in 1969 after the riots there, he asked "How could it happen in the land of Mahatma Gandhi?" Compare this to what happened under Modi in 2002," Yechury said.