Union minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday said the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest site in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh locality would be cleared once the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power after the February 8 Assembly elections, PTI reported.
Last week, Thakur had been banned from campaigning for three days for leading the crowd at a rally in a chant urging that “traitors be shot”. “Desh ke gaddaron ko,” he had shouted, as the crowd responded, “Goli maro saalon ko”. He was referring to those protesting against the citizenship law across India since the middle of December. Since Thakur’s speech, three shooting incidents near protest sites in Delhi have been reported.
Thakur, who has not apologised for his actions, on Tuesday accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia of backing the protests at Shaheen Bagh.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath targeted Kejriwal and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on the campaign trail on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported. At a television event on Saturday, Kejriwal had sung the “Hanuman Chalisa”. Owaisi is a vocal critic of the BJP.
“Now Arvind Kejriwal has started reciting the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’,” Adityanath said at a public meeting in Kirari in North West Delhi. “In coming days, you will see Owaisi reciting the same. This will certainly happen.”
On Sunday, Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh had lashed out at Adityanath for alleging that Kejriwal has links to Pakistan. Singh said Adityanath should be arrested, jailed and asked to provide proof for his claims. Last week, at a rally in Delhi the BJP leader had appeared to suggest the use of bullets to quell dissent. He made the remark while referring to those who allegedly pose a threat to the annual Kanwar yatra of Shiv devotees.
Adityanath also targeted Shaheen Bagh protestors on the campaign trail, accusing them of supporting terrorists in Kashmir. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that the protests at Jamia Millia Islamia University, Seelampur and Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act were not a coincidence but an “experiment”. He alleged there was a political design behind the demonstrations.
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