Rijiju hits out at TMC's Jawhar Sircar over 'BJP's brand of secularism' jibe

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday slammed TMCs Jawhar Sircar for questioning the decision to give charge of Muslims, Christians to hardcore Hindu Smriti Irani, saying he hopes one can free the mind from the shackles of pseudo-secularism and appeasement politics.Irani was given the Minority Affairs Ministry portfolio after Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi resigned as his term in the Rajya Sabha ended earlier this month.On July 6, Sircar, the Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP, attacked the BJP-led Centre in a tweet, Hardcore Hindu, married to a Parsi given charge of Muslims, Christians.

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday slammed TMC's Jawhar Sircar for questioning the decision to ''give charge of Muslims, Christians'' to ''hardcore Hindu'' Smriti Irani, saying he hopes one can free the mind from the shackles of ''pseudo-secularism and appeasement politics''.

Irani was given the Minority Affairs Ministry portfolio after Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi resigned as his term in the Rajya Sabha ended earlier this month.

On July 6, Sircar, the Trinamool Congress' Rajya Sabha MP, attacked the BJP-led Centre in a tweet, ''Hardcore Hindu, married to a Parsi given charge of Muslims, Christians. Is this BJP's brand of secularism?'' Hitting out at Sircar, Rijiju wondered the logic behind the tweet. ''Muslims and Christians? I hope one can free the mind from the shackles of pseudo-secularism and appeasement politics.'' He pointed out that Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, and Parsis have been notified as minority communities under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.