Tarnishing India’s image on foreign land should be forbidden: Dhankhar

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday took a veiled jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his comments in London, saying tarnishing India’s image on foreign land should be forbidden. Addressing aevent here after the release of a postage stamp marking the birth anniversary of noted social reformer Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Dhankhar said some Indians in some foreign institutions are scheming to stall the country’s growth. The vice president invoked Swami Dayanand’s quote about independence and his resistance to foreign rule and expressed displeasure over the alleged remarks made overseas to tarnish the image of India and its democratic institutions. ”It hurts when some amongst us go to foreign land and tarnish the image of an emerging India. This should be forbidden,” he said. The vice president said a person having faith in India and Indianness will focus on enhancing the country’s image and contribute towards it. ”There may be shortcomings, he will think of addressing those shortcomings but criticising on a foreign visit, making comment which are undignified on all parameters, this behaviour is contrary to the views of Swami-ji,” Dhankhar said. During an event in the UK, Rahul Gandhi had alleged that the structures of Indian democracy are under attack and there is a ”full-scale assault” on the country’s institutions. Dhankhar said there was a period when institutions were named after a select few and it gave an impression that there was a dearth of great personalities in the country.