Pune, July 7: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday launched an attack on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and highlighted the absence of harmony and development in India in the present day.

"If there's power in someone's hands he must see how to maintain harmony and lead others to development. Today there's absence of it. We see people getting attacked, sometimes Muslims, sometimes Christians. Section of people project as if it's their right to attack others," Pawar was quoted saying by ANI.

He also criticised BJP MP Gopal Shetty for his earlier remark on Christians not being contributors to India's freedom struggle.

"A minister said today that Christians did not contribute to the freedom struggle. He should be ashamed of himself. Congress contributed a lot to the struggle for freedom and Annie Besant was a significant name in Congress."

In an apparent reference to the Avenfield reference case verdict in Pakistan, Pawar said the situation is similar in India.
"Look at our neighbour Pakistan. Their former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was sent to jail for 10 years today. Such is the situation around India today. So it is our responsibility to see that we maintain harmony and keep all elements spreading hatred at bay," he said.

Sharif was sentenced to 10 years in jail in a corruption case by Pakistan's accountability court on Friday. His daughter Maryam was also given a seven-year jail term while son-in-law Captain (Retd) Safdar received one-year prison sentence.