Obama minority remark draws FM fire: ‘Bombed 6 Muslim nations’

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday hit out at the opposition and former US President Barack Obama for raising “non-issues” related to the treatment of minorities in the country.

At a press conference, without naming Obama, she said that six Islamic nations, including Syria, Yemen and Iraq, were bombed during his tenure. “We maintain restraint when another country is involved. We want friendship with the US but we get remarks about religious freedom in India. It is during his tenure as President that the US bombed six Muslim countries and dropped more than 26,000 bombs in these countries. How will people trust these allegations?” she said while addressing a press conference.

She slammed the opposition, asserting that these parties do not have a positive agenda to share and said that there were efforts from a section of people, including a former American President, toraise issues related to the treatment of minorities in the country when the entire focus of the government remained on development of all sections of the society. Following an interview coinciding with Modi’s trip to the US, Obama has also come under attack from other BJP leaders such as Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Baijayant JayPanda.


Sitharaman said that the PM had received the highest civilian award in 13 countries, including Egypt, and six of them followed Islam. “The PM himself has said that the government works on the principle of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwaas and does not discriminate against any community. when people join this debate and highlight issues which are non-issues because issues are being addressed at the state level because law and order is a state issue… To just allege without basic data, tells us that these are organised campaigns,” she said.

Sitharaman said that the Congress and other opposition parties are seeking to vitiate the atmosphere by domestic issues overseas as they cannot combat the development work done by the Modi government. “The role of the Congress party is very clear when they seek the support of Pakistan to change the government. Foreign toolkits are being deployed. They don’t have confidence in their ability to convince people and are therefore levelling baseless allegations. ” Listing out schemes launched by the government, the FM said: “People questioning PM’s achievements should put their own achievements on the table. ”