NEW DELHI: Opposition members and activists among others on Tuesday accused the government of distorting the national emblem by replacing the "graceful and regally confident" Ashokan lions with those having menacing and aggressive posture and sought immediate change.
Modi had on Monday unveiled the cast of the national emblem on top of the new Parliament building in the presence of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh.
The Opposition had hit out at Modi accusing him of flouting constitutional norms by performing Hindu rituals and not inviting opposition leaders for the event.
"To completely change the character and nature of the lions on Ashoka's pillar at Sarnath is nothing but a brazen insult to India's National Symbol," AICC General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said.
The new statue is an adaptation of an ancient sculpture 'Lion Capital of Ashoka' at Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh, dating back to 250 BC.
"Truth be told, transition from Satyameva Jayate to Sanghimeva Jayate has long been completed in spirit," Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra said.
Hitting back at the opposition, BJP chief spokesperson Anil Baluni said the real reason behind the opposition's allegation was its frustration over India creating its own Parliament building under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, replacing the one created by the British over 150 years back.
"Opposition parties want to target Modi for one reason or another. It is just a conspiracy to vitiate the atmosphere by misleading people," he said.
Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the bronze cast of the national emblem atop the new parliament building was a "scaled up" version of the original Sarnath emblem.
"If the Sarnath emblem was to be scaled up or the emblem on the new Parliament building is reduced to that size there would not be any difference," said Puri.
"The original Sarnath Emblem is 1.6 mtr high whereas the emblem on the top of the New Parliament Building is huge at 6.5 mtrs height," he said.
Historian S Irfan Habib also objected to the national emblem unveiled atop the new Parliament building.
"Meddling with our national emblem was totally unnecessary and avoidable.
Why should our lions look ferocious and full of angst? These are Ashoka's lions adapted by independent India in 1950," Habib said.
"From Gandhi to Godse; From our national emblem with lions sitting majestically & peacefully; to the new national emblem unveiled for the top of the new Parliament building under construction at Central Vista; Angry lions with bared fangs. This is Modi's new India," senior lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan said.
"There is just no change. The opposition is comparing 2D images in print to an imposing 3D structure. They have lost it," Amit Malviya, in-charge of BJP's National Information & Technology department said.
Opposition members and activists among others on Tuesday accused the government of distorting the national emblem by replacing the "graceful and regally confident" Ashokan lions with those having menacing and aggressive posture and sought immediate change.
"Narendra Modi Ji, please observe the face of the Lion, whether it is representing the statue of Great Sarnath or a distorted version of GIR lion.
Please check it and if it needs, mend the same, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, said on Twitter.
"Insult to our national symbol, the majestic Ashokan Lions. Original is on the left, graceful, regally confident. The one on the right is Modi's version, put above the new Parliament building - snarling, unnecessarily aggressive and disproportionate. Shame! Change it immediately," Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Jawahar Sircar said on Twitter sharing two different images of the national emblem.
Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday hit back at the Opposition, insisting if the Ashokan lions at Sarnath were to be scaled up or the one atop the new Parliament building reduced to that size, there would not be any difference.
Puri, whose ministry has been tasked with constructing the new Parliament building under the Central Vista redevelopment project, said one needs to appreciate the impact of angle, height and scale when comparing the two structures.
If one looks at the Sarnath emblem from below, it would appear as calm or angry as the one being discussed, the minister said on Twitter.
"If an exact replica of the original were to be placed on the new building, it would barely be visible beyond the peripheral rail. The 'experts' should also know that the original placed in Sarnath is at ground level while the new emblem is at a height of 33 mtrs from ground," he tweeted.
"If the Sarnath emblem was to be scaled up or the emblem on the new Parliament building is reduced to that size there would not be any difference," Puri said in another tweet.
The minister also tweeted the picture of the Sarnath emblem.
"Sense of proportion & perspective. Beauty is famously regarded as lying in the eyes of the beholder."
"So is the case with calm & anger. The original #Sarnath #Emblem is 1.6 mtr high whereas the emblem on the top of the #NewParliamentBuilding is huge at 6.5 mtrs height."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Monday unveiled the national emblem atop the new Parliament building in the presence of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh.
The Opposition had accused Modi of flouting constitutional norms and not inviting opposition leaders for the event.
"Narendra Modi Ji, please observe the face of the Lion, whether it is representing the statue of Great Sarnath or a distorted version of GIR lion. Please check it and if it needs, mend the same," Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, said on Twitter.
Historian S Irfan Habib also objected to the national emblem unveiled atop the new Parliament building.
"Meddling with our national emblem was totally unnecessary and avoidable.
Why should our lions look ferocious and full of angst? These are Ashoka's lions adapted by independent India in 1950," Habib said.
Meanwhile, speaking at an event here, Puri said when Modi was unveiling the national emblem on top of the new Parliament building on Monday, one of his colleagues asked why there was no emblem on the old Parliament building.
"The old Parliament building was built by Britishers for their departments. This (new building) is being built by us," he said.
About the architecture of Rashtrapati Bhavan, North Block, South Block and the old Parliament building, Puri said, "They were not built for Independent India and that was reflected very much in the kind of construction we talk about. It is beautiful. All is good," he said.
BJP chief spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni said the real reason behind the Opposition's allegation is its frustration over India creating its own Parliament building under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, replacing the one created by the British over 150 years back.
"The opposition is totally due to political reasons. Opposition parties want to target Modi for one reason or another. It is just a conspiracy to vitiate the atmosphere by misleading people," he said.
Critics are comparing the national emblem inaugurated on Monday with the one in Sarnath, considered the inspiration behind the national insignia, by producing pictures taken from different angles, Baluni said.
This also must be noted that the emblem over the Parliament building is 6.5 metre high, almost three times the one in Sarnath, he said.
The state emblem of India is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Emperor Ashoka which is preserved in the Sarnath Museum.
The Lion Capital has four lions mounted back to back on a circular abacus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Monday unveiled the cast of the national emblem atop the new Parliament building in the presence of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh.
Irani on Tuesday took a dig at the TMC's criticism of the national emblem atop the new Parliament building and said it is not unexpected from a party which insults Goddess Kali.
It is expected of opposition leaders who have "scant regard" for the Constitution to oppose the national emblem, said Irani, the union minister for women and child development addressing a press conference at Howrah.
"Those leaders who have either disregarded or discarded the Constitution over the years are expected to oppose the national emblem.
Today they are afraid of the national emblem, which is the pride of our country.
It is not unexpected from the party and its leaders who insult Goddess Kali to insult the national emblem," she said at the press conference.
Her comments followed those by TMC MP Jawhar Sircar, who accused the BJP government at the Centre of insulting the national emblem by installing an "aggressive version of the Ashokan Lions" as a national emblem atop the new Parliament building.
"Insult to our national symbol, the majestic Ashokan Lions. Original is on the left, graceful, regally confident. The one on the right is Modi's version, put above the new Parliament building, snarling, unnecessarily aggressive and disproportionate. Shame! Change it immediately!" Sircar had tweeted.
His party colleague and parliamentarian, MP Mahua Moitra, who has been facing opposition flak over her controversial remarks on Goddess Kali, tweeted two images of the national emblem comparing the past structure with that installed atop the new Parliament building.
Moitra had said at a conclave on July 5 that Kali, for her, was a meat-eating, alcohol-accepting goddess.
She was responding to a question in connection with the outrage over a film poster which showed a woman dressed as the deity smoking a cigarette and holding a pride flag.
Police complaints have been made against Moitra for the remarks in various states.
Irani slammed Sircar for questioning her appointment as the minority affairs minister and said as a cabinet minister she is serving the country and all the communities in it.
"We had many heads of state who belonged to different religions. It is our constitutional responsibility to ensure we serve all and appease none. As minister of minority affairs, I serve India and all the communities. Especially those communities that the Constitution has deemed fit for my office to serve," she said.
Irani has been given the minority affairs portfolio after Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi resigned as his term in Rajya Sabha ended earlier this month.
On July 6, Sircar, who is a Rajya Sabha MP of the TMC, attacked the BJP-led Centre in a tweet saying, "Hardcore Hindu, married to a Parsi given charge of Muslims, Christians.
Is this BJP's brand of secularism?" On NDA presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu, Irani said if TMC does not support her it will prove that the party is against tribals and the poor.
"If Mamata Di (Mamata Banerjee) cannot support Droupadi Murmu, then she should herself judge whether she is against the poor and tribals or not," Irani said when asked to comment on Banerjee's recent remarks that opposition parties might have considered backing Murmu had BJP held discussions with them before fielding her.
Major non-BJP parties of the country like the Congress and TMC have named Yashwant Sinha, a former union minister, as the joint nominee for the presidential election.
Earlier in the day, Irani participated in a rally in Howrah district as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.