BJP split over Meerut SP's 'go to Pak' comment

Lucknow/New Delhi: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to be a divided house on the issue of a senior police officer allegedly asking protesters in Meerut to "go to Pakistan".

While UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has defended the Meerut Superintendent of Police (SP), Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has demanded "immediate action".

Even Uma Bharti supported Singh and stated: "I stand by Meerut City SP Singh".

Despite BJP leaders in UP defending Akhilesh Narayan, Naqvi stated: "It's condemnable if it's true. Immediate action should be taken against the officer."

Condemning the incident, Naqvi also termed the alleged police excesses on protesters as "unacceptable".

"Violence at any level, be it by police or by a mob, it is unacceptable. It can't be a part of a democratic country. Police should take care that those who are innocent should not suffer," Naqvi added.

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai as part of the BJP's awareness campaign over the contentious CAA and NRC, Naqvi said Muslims were not living in India out of "compulsion" but due to their "commitment to nationalism".

There is no threat to the citizenship of any Indian Muslim from the CAA, NRC or any other law, he said. "Muslims from other countries could obtain citizenship under the Citizenship Act even before the amendment," Naqvi added.

While Pakistan is "hell for minorities, India is heaven", he said, adding that this reality was unacceptable to "divisive forces out to weaken the country".

A 1.43-minute video triggered a huge controversy which showed Akhilesh Narayan talking to a small group of people in a narrow lane as his colleagues marched in. "Tell the protesters who have tied black and yellow bands to go to Pakistan. You will eat here but praise some other place," the police officer was seen as saying.

Later on Saturday, Singh said he was compelled to make such remark as demonstrators were shouting 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans.

Major political parties, including the Congress, the BSP and the AIMIM, have come out sharply against the cop. But for the BJP, it's not the Opposition but its own inherent contradictions on the issue, is a bother.