NEW DELHI: The Hindu Mahasabha stirred a row on Wednesday by alleging that the anti-CAA protest at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh has the backing of Pakistan. The outfits’s national president Swami Chakrapani has demanded an inquiry by the BJP-led Union government into this.
Elaborating on his allegation, Chakrapani told IANS, “We are not against their right to protest. But the intention is not to protest but create a sustained anarchy and a show of strength. The Shaheen Bagh protest is a way of telling the powers that be “ye humara area hai” (this is our area).”
He went on to claim that “This country is yours and the people of this country are also yours. If Shaheen Bagh protestors want to make a point, they should do it in Ramlila Maidan. But I suspect the intention is different and Pakistan is aiding it. We demand a probe into it.”
Chakrapani went on to state that the Hindu Mahasabha has received multiple complaints against the protestors at Shaheen Bagh and will soon go to the spot to mount a counter protest.
This is not the first time that the now month-long protest at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, blocking the main road, has made the headlines. On Tuesday, Congress leader Mani Shahnkar Aiyar used the platform to call the ruling BJP a “kaatil” (murderer). He also accused the Narendra Modi government of dividing the country and “trying to create disturbance within the Muslim community”.
“Jo bhi qurbaniyan deni ho, usme main bhi shaamil hone ke liye tayaar hun. Ab dekhein ki kiska hath mazboot hai, hamara ya us kaatil ka? (I am ready for whatever sacrifices have to be made. We have got to see whose hands — ours or of killers — are stronger),” he said.
On Tuesday, the BJP’s Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari released a video in which he “appealed” to the protestors to call off their agitation, while training his guns at his political opponent Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly “ignoring the plight of lakhs of people facing inconvenience because of the protests”.
The video was tweeted by the BJP leader under the banner: “What has happened to my Delhi? This is an appeal to all the brothers and sisters who are sitting in protest at Shaheen Bagh against the CAA.”
Earlier, the Delhi High Court asked the authorities to keep in mind the “larger public interest” while listening to a plea against the Shaheen Bagh protest that has blocked the crucial Delhi-Noida route for more than a month now.