UP Deputy CM backs Meerut SP over 'Go to Pakistan' remark

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Sunday commented on a video of senior police official from Meerut, which is doing rounds on social media, and said that Meerut SPs statement is not wrong for "people involved in anti-national activities."

"He (Meerut SP) did not say it for all Muslims but probably to those who were raising pro-Pakistan slogans while pelting stones. 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," Maurya said while speaking to media in Lucknow.

In a viral video, a police officer was seen abusing and asking Muslims to go to Pakistan during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.

Congress' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, journalists and other noted citizens have condemned the Meerut cop's behavior and police excesses against the protestors.

Several leaders including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi have alleged that police had ransacked people's houses, destroyed private properties and used unjustified force against people of the minority community in UP.

The Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Maurya also slammed the Opposition parties for joining the anti-citizenship law and said, "Congress and the Samajwadi Party are unnecessarily making the CAA an issue. The CAA is not against the our constitution. These parties are misleading people. They are spreading lies."

Protests erupted in several parts of the country last week including Uttar Pradesh over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.