Noted writer Khushwant Singh,who has been a staunch admirer of Sanjay Gandhi's actions during the Emergency,is critical of the late Congress leader's son Varun and says his hate-speech was a result of his "bad upbringing" by Maneka Gandhi. Singh,a former MP who supported Sanjay Gandhi's actions during the Emergency,says that Varun be debarred from contesting elections for his "abusive" comments against Muslims. "She (Maneka Gandhi) has badly brought up her child. I could not believe the words attributed to him about Muslims. Though he has denied them,it cannot get him out of it," the renowned author said when asked about the hate-speech of the BJP's candidate from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh. Singh was talking to reporters during the launch of the collection of his articles "Why I Supported the Emergency: Essays and Profiles" in New Delhi. A seasoned journalist,who wrote extensively in support of Indira Gandhi and Sanjay,said: "Such abusive words for Muslims are ethnic insult for them. It is unpalatable. He should be banned from contesting elections. Though it is up to the Election Commission to act against him,I hope the electorate will not let him win with such divisive agenda." When asked whether he had any "regret" for supporting Sanjay,Singh said he did not have any such feeling as he found the late leader as a capable one who wanted to do something. "He was the much wrongly understood young man. He was a doer and was impatient to work. We do need compulsory population control method. And he tried to work on that direction though it turned out to be unacceptable to many. I certainly have no regret for supporting him," he said. Singh,who had a long association with Congress,said it would have been better if the party had not given tickets to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar,accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. "I was hoping they will withdraw their candidature themselves. It was a wrong decision by the Congress to give them tickets. They were the persons behind that (anti-Sikh riots). Hundreds of people saw them. But unfortunately a silly action (shoe hurling) had to take place to rake the whole issue up," Singh said. Recalling the "horrific" situation during the riots,he said,"I had to take refuge in the Sweden Embassy to save my life. I was feeling like a refugee in my own country."
