MUMBAI: India is slowly heading towards a "civil war" as riots are no longer limited to big cities, but have slowly entered into the homes of people, said Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar today.
He bemoaned that violence has been "normalised", while basic questions like food, clothing and shelter, and issues related to farmers, education, health have fallen by the wayside and are not getting required attention.
"India is slowly heading towards a civil war, even if we cannot see it clearly. Riots are not an issue about cities anymore. Riots have crept into the homes of people.
"Dinner tables have been divided into two. If a father takes a position (in support of) secularism, the son calls him pro-Pakistani," he said, speaking at an event here.
The former president of the JNU Students Union said lines have been drawn in homes and villages, and localities dominated by Muslims are being called "mini-Pakistan".
"Communalism has become poisonous to such an extent that the RSS has been able to divide villages. People from outside are not needed for riots, locals do the work. Those who played cricket together, studied in same schools are saying their friends are Pakistanis," he said.
"If there is growth in GDP, but agriculture, textile and construction is not included (while computing numbers), there is a big problem.
"If farmers are committing suicide - 12,000 farmers end their lives in one year - and the companies providing them with insurance make a profit of Rs 10,000 crore, there is a problem," he said.
The present government is being run on speeches and propaganda, Kumar said.
The government undertook demonetisation to curb black money and counterfeit currency. However, within a month (of note ban), fake currency with a face value of Rs 10 lakh was found, he added.