Delhi MP Parvesh VermaADDRESSING A ‘Virat Hindu Sabha‘ organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s local unit and other Hindu organisations in the capital on Sunday, BJP MP from West Delhi, Parvesh Verma, called for the “total boycott” of “these people”. He did not, however, name any community.
The meeting, in Northeast Delhi’s Dilshad Garden, was held to protest against the killing of a man, identified as Manish, who was stabbed over 20 times as he was returning home in East Delhi’s Sunder Nagri last week. Six people, identified as Sajid, Aalam, Bilal, Faizan, Mohsin and Shakir, have been arrested in the case. Police had said the incident was the fallout of an old rivalry.
Referring to the killing, Verma is heard saying in a purported video clip of the meeting: “Jahan jahan yeh aaapko dikhaee de, mai kehta hun, agar inka dimaag thik karna hai… toh ek hi ilaaj hai, woh hai sampurna bahishkar… Aap is baat se sehmat ho? Haath khada kar ke bolo agar sehmat ho toh. Mere saath bolo hum inka sampurna bahishkar karenge, hum inki dukan rediyon se koi samaan nahin kharidenge, hum inko koi mazdoori nahi denge.”
(“Wherever you see them, I say that if you want to set their minds straight … then there is only one remedy, that is complete boycott… Do you agree with this? Raise your hand if you agree. Say with me, we will completely boycott them, we will not buy any goods from their shops, we will not employ them”.)
When contacted, Verma told The Indian Express that he had not named any religious community. “What I said was that the families whose members carry out such killings should be boycotted. Such families, if they run any restaurant or any business, should be boycotted. There have been such crimes in my area also. And in such cases, their business should be boycotted,” he said.
A Hindu majoritarian ruling party MP in Delhi calling his hundreds of supporters to economically boycott minority Muslims in India. pic.twitter.com/XkpLUkUUKN
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) October 9, 2022
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Religious leader Mahant Nawal Kishore Das is also alleged to have made some inflammatory comments. When contacted, Das told The Indian Express, “I did not ask people to pick up guns. I said everyone should come together to defend our nation against those who killed Manish. We have to take action against jihadis, and police can’t stop us”.
Another speaker, Jagat Guru Yogeshwar Acharya, says in the purported video: “Agar aise log humare mandiro… ko ungli dikhayee, unka ungli mat kaato, unka haath kaato. Agar zarurat pade, to unka gala bhi kaat do. Kya hoga? Ek ko phaansi hogi, do ko phaansi hogi…Hum sab bhi iska dhyan de… inko chun chun ke marne ka kaam karen (If such people point a finger at our temples, don’t cut his finger, cut off his hand. If needed, slit his throat too. What will happen? One or two persons will be hanged… Let us all pay attention to this… pick and kill them).”
When mediapersons asked him about his speech, he said, “mai baar baar kahunga iske liye… sanatan dharam ke liye phaansi chadne ke liye tayaar hoon… (I will say this again and again… I am ready to be hanged for the sake of Hindu religion).”