When asked to clear the air on the subject, Thakur said he wouldn’t comment on the matter as it was sub-judice. (File)

Questioned on the raising of slogans like desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaron saalon ko (What should be done with traitors of the country? Shoot them), Union minister Anurag Thakur Sunday said mediapersons saying such things ‘were lying’, and that they should be ‘better informed’.

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Thakur was asked about the slogan he had raised in the run-up to the Delhi elections — and which is said to have played a part in inciting the recent Delhi violence — at an event in Chandigarh on Sunday. In response, the minister of state (MoS) for finance said: “You are lying. You people should first inform yourself. Half knowledge and misinformation are dangerous.”

When asked to clear the air on the subject, Thakur said he wouldn’t comment on the matter as it was sub-judice.

The minister added: “Police is doing its job….Strict action should be taken against those involved in the (Delhi) riots. The strength of our country is that people of various faiths coexist and live unitedly, contributing towards nation building.”

The Delhi High Court is hearing a plea seeking judicial inquiry and registration of FIRs against Thakur and his party colleagues, Parvesh Sahib Singh and Kapil Mishra, for allegedly making provocative statements on anti-CAA protesters. The plea claims that such comments sparked the recent violence in Northeast Delhi that has claimed over 40 lives.

While on Wednesday (February 26), the HC had given the police one day to decide on registering the FIR, a day later, when the matter came up before a different bench, the police got a four-week breather.

On January 27, campaigning for the Delhi elections in Rithala, Thakur had multiple times started the chant of “desh ke gaddaron ko”, which the audience completed with “goli maaro saalon ko”.