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Uttar Pradesh’s deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has defended the police officer who was caught on camera using communal language against Muslims in Meerut during protests against the citizenship act last week.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader’s comments came as his party colleague and Union minister for minority affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, demanded “immediate action” against Meerut’s superintendent of police (city), Akhilesh Narayan Singh, who purportedly asked Muslims to “go to Pakistan” during a protest.
“He (Meerut SP) did not say it for all Muslims but probably to those who were raising pro-Pakistan slogans while pelting stones,” Maurya said, according to news agency ANI.
WATCH | UP Deputy CM defends cop over ‘go to Pakistan’ comment during CAA protest
“Meerut SP’s statement is not wrong for the people involved in anti-national activities. The statement is right for those people who are sloganeering against India and supporting Pakistan,” he said.
In the now viral video, the police officer is heard telling a group of Muslim men to go to Pakistan and threatening to ruin their career.
Opposition party leaders, including Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have condemned the Meerut police officer’s behaviour and police excesses against the protestors.
Maurya also slammed opposition parties for joining the anti-citizenship law.
“Congress and the Samajwadi Party are unnecessarily making the CAA an issue. The CAA is not against our Constitution. These parties are misleading people. They are spreading lies,” he said.
Protests erupted in several parts of the country last week, including Uttar Pradesh, over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
At least 20 people, including five in Meerut, have died during the violent protests against the law that favours non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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