An anti-citizenship law speech given by a class 8 student during a Goa government's event prompted the opposition Congress to take aim at the ruling BJP.
Speaking at the event to commemorate the Constitution Day on 16 January, the girl criticised the “discriminatory” Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying the legislation is the “murder of the soul of the Constitution, its Preamble, and liberty, equality and fraternity.”
“This act discriminates (against) people. It is mockery of my fundamental duty to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst people transcending religion, region and linguistic diversities. The country is burning today," the student had said.
The speech went viral on social media.
Goa Director of Education Vandana Rao and Advocate General Devidas Pangam were present at the programme in which students from various schools took part.
“Vandana Rao should be made a new national spokesperson of the BJP to teach PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah about the Indian Constitution," Congress Goa spokesperson Janardhan Bhandari said mockingly on Saturday, 18 January.
He said Rao has become "anti-national" going by chief minister Pramod Sawant's statement, in which he had labelled opponents of the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) as "anti-nationals".
Rao remained unavailable for comments.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)