LK Advani LK Advani

Senior BJP leader L K Advani Monday said incidents like the attack on Sudheendra Kulkarni, his former aide, “show a growing intolerance towards views that are different from one’s own”.

“This morning, I saw on TV my long-time colleague Sudheendra Kulkarni has been attacked. I do not want to name anybody, but such incidents show a growing intolerance towards views that are different from one’s own. I strongly condemn the attack,” Advani said on the sidelines of a function to release the inaugural issue of the journal Chanakya.

Watch Video: Attack On Sudheendra Kulkarni By Shiv Sena Activists: An Analysis

Though he was responding to specific queries about the attack on Kulkarni, Advani’s comments echo those made by President Pranab Mukherjee last week, when he emphasised plurality as one of the key attributes of the Indian civilisation. Mukherjee’s comments were seen as a reaction to the killing of a man in Dadri over rumours that he and his family stored and consumed beef.

Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, too, condemned the attack on Kulkarni. Speaking to The Indian Express from Hazaribagh, he said, “Such acts have no place in a democracy like ours. I condemn the incident. I do not want to get into the politics of it.”

Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said people who carry out such attacks act as extra-constitutional authorities and “forget that tolerance is our biggest strength”.

“Agreements and disagreements can always happen but this is not right; it destroys our democratic and constitutional values. Such intolerant behaviour exposes Taliban mindset, which is condemnable,” Naqvi said.

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