Didn’t Mean to Insult or Disrespect PM Modi, Says NCP Leader Majeed Memon on Dhobi Remark

Talking to news agency ANI, the NCP leader said, "I am ready to take back my words if I hurt sentiments, I did not mean to insult or disrespect the PM, it was just an idiom."

New Delhi: Hours after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Majeed Memon made a derogatory statement about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he issued another statement making clear that he had not meant to hurt or disrespect the Prime Minister. Talking to news agency ANI, the NCP leader said, “I am ready to take back my words if I hurt sentiments, I did not mean to insult or disrespect the PM, it was just an idiom.”

Earlier in the day, the NCP leader said, “Modi ji, Bohra samaj ke pass gaye iss vichaar se ki shayad musalmano ko rijhha liya jaayega, lekin na woh idhar ke rahenge na hi udhar ke. Dhobi ke kutte wali baat ho jati hai.” The comment was made regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Indore to observe Ashura, the annual commemoration of Imam Hussain’s martyrdom.

Memom was referring to Prime Minister Modi’s address at Indore’s Saifee mosque, which was organised by the Dawoodi Bohra community to mark the Islamic holy month of Muharram.

The Prime Minister, in his address to the packed hall of worshippers, invoked the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The world is one big family). “The concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam gives a distinct identity to India from the rest of the world and the Bohra community is an example of it,” he said. Memon’s comments come a week after Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam referred to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘anpadh ganwar’ (illiterate).