Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Saturday slammed his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath over his ‘inflammatory tweet on the declaration of Malerkotla as the 23rd district of Punjab, terming it as an attempt to incite communal hatred in the peaceful state as part of the BJP’s divisive policies.
Amarinder Singh also asked Adityanath to stay out of his state’s affairs, which he claimed to be in much better shape than those in Uttar Pradesh under the BJP government, which has been actively promoting communal discord in the state for the past over four years.
“What does he (Adityanath) know of Punjab’s ethos or the history of Malerkotla, whose relationship with Sikhism and its Gurus is known to every Punjabi? And what does he understand of the Indian Constitution, which is being brazenly trampled every day by his own government in UP,” asked Amarinder Singh, in a strong reaction to Adityanath’s tweet describing Malerkotla’s new status as a “sign of the divisive policies of the Congress”.
Mocking his comment, Amarinder Singh said that given Adityanath government’s and BJP’s track record of spreading communal hatred, such a remark is utterly ridiculous, apart from being totally unwarranted and uncalled for.
The whole world knows of the communally divisive policies of the BJP, and particularly the Adityanath-led government in UP, the Chief Minister said in a statement.
Pointing to the spate of changes in names of various UP cities, including Mughal Sarai to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Nagar, Allahabad to Prayagraj and Faizabad to Ayodhya, Amarinder Singh dubbed them as an attempt by the Adityanath government to rewrite history, which the peace-loving people of India will never condone.
Citing media reports, Amarinder Singh recalled that UP was the first state in the country to approve ‘love jihad’ laws, and Adiyanath’s open hatred for Taj Mahal (which he sees as a legacy of the Mughals) has been the subject of criticism in international press.
In fact, the UP Chief Minister is reportedly the founder of ‘Hindu Yuva Vahini’, an organisation that was responsible for starting cow vigilantism, which led to lynching of Muslims in his own state, the Punjab Chief Minister pointed out.
It is obvious that the tweet of the UP government head on Malerkotla is nothing but a provocative gesture aimed at creating conflict among the communities living in perfect harmony in Punjab, said the Chief Minister.
He also termed it as a conspiracy on the part of the BJP to spread disharmony in Punjab ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled next year.
“But the UP Chief Minister seems to have forgotten that his own state is also going to the polls at the same time, and if the recent panchayat poll results are any indication, the BJP is in for a complete and shocking rout,” Amarinder Singh said.
Adityanath should focus his energies on saving his own state, where the Covid situation is spiraling out of control, with bodies of the victims being found dumped in rivers, thus depriving them of even the dignity of a decent cremation or burial, added Amarinder Singh.