Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday used an Urdu couplet to take a swipe at senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, two days after the latter asked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government to "keep their new India to themselves" and return our "old India."
Replying to the Motion of Thanks to President's Address in the Rajya Sabha, Modi wrongly attributed a quote to noted Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib.
"Ghalib said something for such ppl 'ta umr Ghalib ye bhool karta raha, dhool chehre pe thi aur aaina saaf karta raha'," he said.
However, many, including lyricist Javed Akhtar, on social media pointed out that Ghalib never wrote the aforementioned couplet.
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The prime minister also targetted the grand old party over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saying many who were involved in riots back then are holding "constitutional positions" today.
Speaking about the lynching of a 24-year-old man in Jharkhand, Modi said he was pained by lynchings, adding those responsible must be punished.
On Monday, Azad had launched a scathing attack on the BJP. "Give us our old India in which there was love and culture," Azad said, adding, "Hindus would feel the pain when Muslims and Dalits got hurt."
"And Muslims and Dalits shed tears when something got into the eyes of Hindus," Azad said.
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He alleged in "New India", humans are each others' enemies, unlike the"Old India" wherein there was no hatred, anger or lynchings.
"Today, you won't be scared of animals in a jungle but you'll be scared of humans in a colony.
"Give us India where Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians live for each other," he said.
(The earlier version of the story wrongly attributed the quote to noted poet Mirza Ghalib. It has been corrected now.)
