Muslims who stayed in India did not do a favor, said Yogi Adityanath, India’s controversial right-wing Hindu politician and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
His comments amid the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests have intensified uproar in India. Adityanath is a regular hate-mongering BJP politician and leading figure of RSS, who has multiple times attacked Indian Muslims with blistering threats and statements.
Yogi Adityanath, known for his hardline vitriol against Muslims and Pakistan, started his ministry by placing a ban on the sale of meat in the state. In the first week after taking the oath, he initiated a crackdown against legal and illegal slaughterhouses.
He is the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh since March 2017 which is home to nearly a quarter of India’s 200 million Muslim population.
“They should have opposed partition, which led to the formation of Pakistan,” said Yogi Adityanath in his interview with BBC.
His government is accused of abuse of state power in UP to dismantle the protestors against CAB. While the evidence shows that Muslim men were extensively persecuted recently, and their properties damaged by police, Adityanath outrightly rejected these allegations.
Nobody is working harder to ignite a Muslim genocide in India harder than UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. https://t.co/Rt01h5ND2I
— CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman) February 5, 2020
The reports suggest that nowhere in entire India was a massive crackdown against dissents orchestrated in the recent nationwide uproar against CAB than UP.
The Chief Minister UP, Yogi Adityanath, also demonized Shaheen Bagh protestors – who have taken on New Delhi’s busiest road to protest against the outrageous CAB.
Read more: Mahatma Gandhi’s freedom movement a pretence: BJP leader
“Men of a particular community, who are cowards, are sitting in their quilts and sending women and children out of their homes to protest against this law”, he said. Adding that the protest in Shaheen Bagh is “not peaceful, and was causing trouble to commuters and residents”.
Yogi Adityanath, known for his hardline vitriol against Muslims and Pakistan, started his ministry by placing a ban on the sale of meat in the state. In the first week after taking the oath, he initiated a crackdown against legal and illegal slaughterhouses.
Congratulations Team India for reaching into the finals of #U19CWC for the third successive time.
Defeating Pakistan by 10 wickets to reach finals gives immense pleasure.Fantastic team performance throughout the series by our young players
I am sure the trophy will be ours.
— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) February 4, 2020
The Indian State of Uttar Pradesh has become a hotbed of Hindutva fundamentalists since the rise of Yogi Adatyanand, another Hindutva fundamentalist in power. The Hindutva ideology revolves around the premise that the Indian Subcontinent was a Hindu utopia that was invaded by “foreign faiths” such as Islam.
Jinnah’s two-nation theory
Yogi Adityanath’s statement is another in the storm of many that vindicate the Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Two-Nation theory.
Shashi Tharoor, the MP Congress, rebutted CAA, arguing that it resonates with Jinnah’s two-nation theory, stipulating that India should not criticize Pakistan for creating a Muslim theocratic state when it is itself heading towards the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra.
Tharoor warned that while Indian soil had been partitioned in 1947, CAA will be the partition of the Indian soul. He requested the BJP government to reverse CAA
He added that if CAA passes it will mark the victory of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s vision over Gandhi’s; it will dismantle the constitutionally mandated secularism of India. India cannot reject Pakistan while advocating the same logic as Pakistan, argued Shashi Tharoor in the parliament.
Tharoor warned that while Indian soil had been partitioned in 1947, CAA will be the partition of the Indian soul. He requested the BJP government to reverse CAA. His argument echoes the cries of millions of Indians who are in extreme angst against the anti-Muslim discriminatory, CAB.
Read more: Jinnah Has Completely Won in India: Shashi Tharoor’s Adoration of Jinnah’s Vision
The Citizen Amendment Bill pitched by Indian Home Minister has caused hue and cry across India. It amends the Citizenship Act of 1995 as the BJP government attempts to redefine illegal immigrants in CAB.
In the new set of amendments, arrangements have been made to provide citizenship to six fleeing non-Muslim minorities of Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus from Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
However, not only Yogi Adityanth’s scorching statements but the aggressive rhetoric and intolerance of BJP towards Muslims has caused resentment among liberal Indians and Muslims, resurrecting Jinnah’s two-nation theory.