Several Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Thursday attacked the outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari on his "sense of unease and insecurity creeping in among Muslims" comment; even as parliamentarians led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised him for exemplary and dignified conduct in their farewell speeches in the Rajya Sabha.
There was a clear contrast between the treatment he received inside the House and outside. PM Modi in the House said he had 'great respect' for the outgoing VP and noted that he came from a family with an illustrious history of over 100 years in public life.
"Whenever I met you, I learnt a lot from you... Your insight gave me insight to understand things beyond their visual aspect," said Modi praising Ansari's tenure.
Leader of the House, Arun Jaitley too praised Ansari for the 'sage advice' that he gave to the members and, through them, to the country.
"We will always have memories of you as the Chair and how you lent dignity to the quality of debates in this House while presiding over it," said Jaitley.
Naresh Gujaral of SAD, part of the ruling NDA, especially thanked Ansari for allowing discussion on contentious 1984 anti-Sikh riots and then allowing the Gurudwara Bill to be tabled at a short notice.
"As far as Punjabis are concerned, and every Sikh in this country is concerned, they owe you a debt of gratitude," said Gujaral.
However, outside Parliament, the BJP leaders were unsparing in their attack on the outgoing VP for commenting on the country's situation.
On being asked in a recent interview if he agreed with the assessment that the Muslim community is apprehensive and was feeling insecure as a result of the kind of comments made against them, Ansari said, "Yes it is a correct assessment, from all I hear from different quarters; I heard the same thing in Bangalore, I have heard from other parts of the country, I hear more about it in north India, there is a feeling of unease, a sense of insecurity creeping in."
Reacting to Ansari's observation, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayavargiya, said, "We disapprove his statements. It is unbecoming for such high stature to make such sweeping comments. He is making such inappropriate comments now because he is leaving the office and is in search of a political role."
"(There is) no better country than India for Muslims and no better friend than Hindus," said BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain.
Priti Gandhi, national executive member of the BJP, in a tweet, asked Ansari if he feels uneasy despite her "Hindu majority nation" placing him "at the pinnacle of power" for 10 years.
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