The BJP MP also said that there should be a bill to punish those who do not respect Vande Matram and the national flag.
Katiyar had also made some unsavoury comments about the violence that broke out in Kasganj on Republic Day where he blamed “pro-Pakistani” elements. Credit: File photo
New Delhi: BJP MP Vinay Katiyar has stirred the hornet’s nest once again this week just a couple of days after he said that the Taj Mahal should and will be be converted into a ‘Tej Mandir‘.
His latest salvo against Muslims harks back to the days of British divide and rule. “Muslims should not stay in India. They divided the nation on the basis of population. So, what’s the need of them staying here (in India)? They have been given lands. (They) should go to Bangladesh or Pakistan,” the MP told ANI.
Doosri baat ye hai, Musalman iss desh mein rehna hi nahi chahye, unhone jansankhya ke aadhaar par desh ka batwara kardia toh iss desh mein rehne ki kya avashyakta thi? Unko alag bhu-bhaag de dia gaya, Bangladesh ya Pakistan jaayen yahan kya kaam hai unka? : BJP MP Vinay Katiyar pic.twitter.com/VXMw6rSx9X
Katiyar didn’t stop there. The BJP MP also said that there should be a bill to punish those who do not respect Vande Matram. “There should be a bill that punishes those who do not respect Vande Matram, those who insult the national flag… those who hoist the Pakistani flag, they should be punished,” Katiyar said.
There should be a bill that punishes those who do not respect Vande Matram, those who insult the national flag… those who hoist the Pakistani flag, they should be punished: BJP MP Vinay Katiyar on Owaisi’s demand of prosecution for calling Indian Muslims ‘Pakistani’. pic.twitter.com/UIEBRWxn5s
The founder of the youth wing of the right-wing group Vishwa Hindu Parishad launched into his latest extremist comments after AIMIM chief Asaddudin Owaisi demanded that there ought to be a law to punish those who call Indian Muslims ‘Pakistani’.
Speaking to the media on February 6 outside parliament, Owaisi had urged the government to introduce a law to this effect and suggested that there should be a punishment with a three-year jail term, reported ANI.
Katiyar’s eventful week began when he became the third leader from the BJP to question the national significance of India’s iconic Taj Mahal. Talking to the news agency ANI about the ‘Taj Mahostav’ being held in Agra, the MP said, “Call it Taj Mahotsav or Tej Mahotsav both are the same things. There is not much difference between Taj and Tej. Our Tej Mandir has been turned into a cremation ground by Aurangzeb. Taj Mahal will be converted into Tej Mandir soon.”
“It is a good thing that a festival is being organised but this Taj Mahal is not the one that existed during the time of Aurangzeb. It was our temple,” he added, forgetting that Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan and not his son Aurangzeb.
Also read: BJP MP Charged With Demolishing Babri Masjid Now Wants Taj Mahal Converted Into ‘Tej Mandir’
His lack of understanding of basic Indian history drew the ire of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who called Katiyar a ‘troglodyte’, which basically, according to the dictionary, is a caveman or people who are deliberately ignorant.
Shashi TharoorVerified account @ShashiTharoor
We can’t let these troglodytes destroy our country & everything beautiful in it. https://t.co/30TB4lXrrb
Katiyar had also made some unsavoury comments about the violence that broke out in Kasganj on Republic Day where he blamed “pro-Pakistani” elements for the series of events despite the fact that a fact-finding team has found a “trail of engineered hate” in the town that has never had a history of communalism.
“These people killed our worker… They (Muslims) started it and the government is taking strict action against them. It needs to take stricter action,” Katiyar had said.