A BJP legislator and minister in the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has triggered a controversy on Thursday by refusing to visit the families of two Muslim men who died during anti-CAA protests which turned violent in Bijnor.
Minister Kapil Dev Agarwal went to meet a victim in Bijnor, Om Raj Shanti, who was injured during the violence in Nehtaur area last week. Two other deaths of Muslim men Anas and Suleiman also happened at the same area, but the minister didn’t bother to visit their families.
Later on questions by the reporters for his biased stand on victims, the minister said, “Why should I go to the homes of rioters? Those who are rioting and want to inflame passions, how are they part of society? Why should I go there? This is not about Hindu-Muslim. Why should I go to rioters?”
The two Muslim men who died during the violence in Bijnor on Friday are 20-year-old Suleman and 25-year-old Anas.
It is to be noted that Suleman was an IAS aspirant whose death in the violence attracted a nationwide condemnation.
Earlier, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had also paid a visit to the two victims in Bijnor and condemned the police action on the protesters in Uttar Pradesh.
The controversial CAA had triggered nationwide protests which turned violent especially in Uttar Pradesh where the death toll reached 16.
Attacking the BJP for its minister’s biased stand on the violence victims, the Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said that the incident reflected the BJP’s anti-minority policy. He also said that it was the perfect example why the CAA was brought in.
While the Congress spokesman Dujendra Tripathi said that it was a matter of shame that the minister gave priority to religion even in a tragedy.