New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti on Saturday came out in support on Meerut Superintendent of Police Akhilesh Narain Singh after his video showing him shouting at Muslim protestors “go back to Pakistan” went viral.
The video clip was apparently made during a protest against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Uma Bharti also accused Congress of politicising the issue. The former Union Minister in a series of tweets said, “The reaction of Meerut City SP Akhilesh Narain Singh telling the protesters to go to Pakistan was natural as the protesters were raising slogans in favour of Pakistan, were abusing the police and were also throwing stones at them.”
In the viral video, Singh is seen telling the protesters to go back to Pakistan. The video also shows a senior police officer in riot gear speaking to members of Muslim community, telling them to go to Pakistan, and threatening to ruin the career of those who allegedly indulged in violence.
Taking pot-shots at the former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, she said, “Both of them while making it a political issue are forgetting the human side of the story that even the police have families and the spirit of patriotism also prevails in them. The Congress is making it a political issue.”
Earlier, Priyanka Gandhi, who is also in-charge for eastern Uttar Pradesh, in a tweet slammed the Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath government and the conduct of some of the senior police officers in the state. She wrote on Twitter: “Indian Constitution does not allow anyone to use such language. When you are occupying a high post, your responsibility increases manifold. The BJP has poisoned the institutions so much so that these officers have no respect for the constitutional oath they have taken.”
Criticising the Congress and Left parties, Bharti said, “The normalcy has started to return across the country, including Uttar Pradesh. But the Congress and Left partis cannot digest it. They are the same people who divided the country in the name of religion, who were behind the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. And now they have stood with the people who are raising slogans for Pakistan.”
She said she was currently in Karnataka, where her Guru is critically ill. “But I stand by Meerut City SP Akhilesh Narain Singh”.
The Congress, meanwhile, slammed the Uttar Pradesh government over the police behaviour. “It is unfortunate that a senior police officer used such language. The situation across the country is saddening. The BJP is responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation. The party did not take any one into confidence,” said senior party leader Tariq Anwar.
“Before bringing the CAA, they should have taken all Chief Ministers and political parties into confidence. This government is only trying to bring in the BJP agenda,” Anwar said.