BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha Dr. Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday said that he would take steps to sue UN Under Secretary General Adama Dieng for ‘slandering him’ in a press release in New York.
Mr. Dieng had said that “statements such as those expressed by Member of Parliament Subramanian Swamy, that all people are not equal, and that Muslims are not in an ‘equal category’ as others are extremely alarming” referring to Dr. Swamy’s interview with Pakistani owned VICE channel.
Responding to a tweet, Dr. Swamy wrote, “I need practice so I will enjoy suing in court an United Nation official for defamatory lies.”
UN Under Secretary General Mr.Adama Dieng slandered me in a press release in New York saying I had said in an interview to a Pakistani owned TV channel that Muslims are not equal to Hindus in Indian Constitution. This is a blatant lie so I will take steps to sue him in court.
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) May 19, 2020
Dr. Swamy in the interview with VICE noted that the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 was a commitment made over several years by several governments and that the BJP government had only completed the job. He added “we know where the Muslim population is large, there is always trouble because the Islamic ideology says so.” He noted that if Muslims become more than 30% [of the population], that country is in danger.
When the reporter quotes Article 14 of the Constitution that guarantees equality, Dr. Swamy notes that, it is a misinterpretation and that Article 14 guarantees equality of equals. When the reporter asks whether all people are not equal, Dr. Swamy says that all people are not equal. The reporter intrudes to ask whether Muslims do not deserve equal rights to apply for citizenship to which Dr. Swamy responds that “there is no such thing as equal rights, they are not in an equal category”.
Dr. Swamy in his interview was referring to the Muslims living in Pakistan and not Indian Muslims. However, it was misconstrued to be referring to Muslims living in India. The video was even shared by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Twitter.
The RSS inspired BJP leadership in the 21st century openly speaking about the 200 million Muslims just as the Nazis spoke about the Jews. pic.twitter.com/MUiyqpgGDJ
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 3, 2020
Dr. Swamy had earlier tweeted that the Pakistani owned VICE channel had given a doctored version to Imran Khan and asked for a true copy of the interview.
: Thanks. But VICE must send me a true copy of my interview or declare that what so called PM of Pak used was doctored or truncated. I know what I said and said many times and at many public functions
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) April 6, 2020