Stirring up controversies has almost become part of Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju’s portfolio.
When Gurmehar Kaur protested against the Akhil Bharitya Vidhya Parishad’s actions at Ramjas University, Rijiju requested everyone to “let her have her own way of life” but instantly added that someone was “polluting her mind”.
After facing a barrage of criticism following his comments against Kaur, Rijiju tweeted a video from December 2016, in which a soldier condemns alleged incidents of “Bharat murdabad” slogans being shouted. “I feel sad when thousands of people join the funeral procession of a terrorist,” says the soldier in the video shot at a weapons display held for schoolchildren.
In the past, Rijiju has suggested that minority populations are flourishing because of conversions. Additionally, the 45-year-old member of the BJP, who had joined the Congress in 2009 and left it in 2012, has stated that no one should criticise the government or ask questions of it (except when he was in the opposition, of course).
That members of the armed forces are no longer supposed to make public statements is not a concern for the Minister of State for Home Affairs.
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