BJP leader Giriraj Singh during the Durga puja at Bihar’s Muzaffarpur made inflammatory remarks targeting the Muslim community, reiterating his stance about the religious identity and historic disputes.
Addressing the Durga Puja event on Saturday, Singh expressed his concern about Bangladeshi Hindus while targeting Indian Muslims stating that they are a significant problem in the country. “From the day the Bangladesh incident happened, it was in my mind that now the time has come for Hindus to wake up and get united,” he said.
Expressing concern over the Hindu population in Pakistan, he said that 22 percent of Hindus in Pakistan have become half a per cent today,” and further claimed that social problems in Pakistan are due to previous mistakes made during the Partition period.
The leader whose provocative speeches led to communal tension in Delhi in 2020, further claimed that if all the Muslims had migrated to Pakistan at the time of partition, Hindu women would have been safer and incidents like “Love Jihad” would not have happened. His remarks reflect a broader narrative by right-wing leaders that often fan communal tensions on questions of historical consequences of partition.
In addition, Singh announced plans for a “Hindu Swabhiman Yatra” from October 18 to 22 to promote Hindu unity and awareness against threats “posed by other communities”. He accused leaders of the opposition parties of attempting to polarize Hindus based on the caste system and portrayed himself as a defender of the Hindu community.
While speaking to the news agency IANS, Singh took a jibe at the Chief Minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren accusing his government of accusing his government for sheltering Rohingya and Bangladeshi immigrants, which he claims has led to societal unrest.
He said that these alleged infiltrations have made the state of Jharkhand increasingly unsafe and stressed the need for Hindu unity against what he said is “love jihad” and other social evils.
“When the Hemant government becomes a shelter for Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, this is what happens… In Garhwa, the immersion of the Durga idol was obstructed by Muslims. It was the government’s responsibility to address this issue… This situation is a result of Hemant Soren’s appeasement policies, his love for Muslims, and the infiltration of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, as well as his love jihad against indigenous people. It shows that Jharkhand is beginning to look unsafe,” he said.
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