The controversial Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ravi Negi has ignited outrage after he was caught on video harassing Muslim shopkeepers in Delhi.
In a viral video, Negi is seen demanding shop owners display their original Muslim names on their signage, threatening severe consequences, including business closures, if they fail to comply.
The viral video that surfaced on social media on Wednesday, October 23, shows Negi raiding the shop and scanning a QR code to confirm the owner’s name. Subsequently, Negi is purportedly heard questioning the shop owner why he has not used his “real Muslim name” on the shop’s signage, despite it already being visible on the signboard.
Confronting Nasrullah Khan, the owner of a juice shop, Negi further demands to see his Paytm transaction history. Negi does not stop here he proceeds to threaten with severe repercussions, including the closure of the business if Khan does not comply with his demands.
However, this is not an isolated incident, Negi has a history of targeting Muslim vendors in similar confrontations. His actions have been criticised for fanning extremism that leads to to isolation and marginalises the Muslim community in predominantly Hindu areas.
Critics argue that such a divisive approach reflects a dangerous trend of communal vigilantism, where political figures use their power to intimidate minority communities.
Activists slam Negi
Earlier, Anjali Verma, a social activist in Delhi slammed Negi’s previous similar actions stating, “This is an attempt to make the Muslims of India jobless and socially insecure.” No citizen in a democracy should be compelled to promote their faith publicly. This is nothing but communal bullying intended to create division.”
Commenting on such actions veteran journalist Rajesh Sharma said, “Such actions are deeply troubling. What Ravi Negi is doing is goondaism, where the threat of violence is employed to impose one’s discriminatory preference. This has to be pointed out at all societal levels because the consequences of such communal tensions are quite catastrophic”.
Ravi Negi is a well-known political figure in Delhi. In 2020, he fought the Delhi Assembly polls on a BJP ticket but lost to the AAP’s Manish Sisodia, the former Delhi deputy chief minister. Negi was defeated by a narrow margin of 3,514 votes only.
Since then, Negi appeared in public several times for other publicity stunts, including carrying a boat through Delhi’s waterlogged streets after heavy rains in June, which also went viral.