Such comment don't suit his office's dignity: BJP slams Hamid Ansari's 'insecurity among Muslims' remark

The BJP criticised outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari for his comment that there was a sense of insecurity among Muslims and said such a "petty" remark was not expected from someone in his position.BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya also wondered if Ansari was looking for "political shelter" after retirement.

"I condemn his comments. He has made political comments as he is retiring. He is still a vice president and such comments do not suit his office's dignity. It seems he is making such comments to find political shelter after retirement," Vijayvargiya said.

Nobody expects such "petty comments" from a person holding such a high post, he added.

Ansari, whose second five-year term as the vice president ends today, has said in an interview that there is a feeling of unease and a sense of insecurity among Muslims in the country, claiming that the "ambience of acceptance" is now under threat.

Ansari's remarks come against the backdrop of incidents of alleged intolerance and violence by self-proclaimed cow protectors, for which opposition parties have attacked the central government.

Outgoing vice-president Hamid Ansari, in his last interview before demitting the office, has said that the Muslims in the country were experiencing a "feeling of unease."

Ansari, whose second five-year term as the vice-president ends today, made these remarks in the wake of incidents of "intolerance" and cow vigilantism.

"A sense of insecurity is creeping in as a result of the dominant mood created by some and the resultant intolerance and vigilantism," Ansari said, in an interview to Rajya Sabha TV.

Ansari referred to incidents of lynching and alleged killings as a "breakdown of Indian values, breakdown of the ability of the authorities at different levels in different places to be able to enforce what should be normal law enforcing work and over all the very fact that Indianness of any citizen being questioned is a disturbing thought."

When asked why he thought Indian values were breaking down, Ansari answered, "Because we are a plural society that for centuries, not for 70 years, has lived in a certain ambience of acceptance."

"I am an Indian and that is it," he said.

Asked if he shared his concerns with the prime minister, Ansari said that he had.

"What passes between the Vice-President and the Prime Minister in the nature of things must remain in the domain of privileged conversation," he said.

Ansari further said triple talaq is a social aberration, not a religious requirement. He said the courts do not have to step in as the reform has to come from within the community.

To a poser on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Ansari said, "the problem has always primarily been a political problem. And it has to be addressed politically."

He said that he has also flagged the issue with other union ministers.

Earlier, at an event in Bengaluru on Sunday, Ansari had said that the "version of nationalism" that places cultural commitments at its core "promotes intolerance" and arrogant patriotism.