Meerut SP did what police, patriot should do: Union Minister Giriraj Singh

Union minister Giriraj Singh on Monday backed Meerut SP Akhilesh Narayan Singh, who is at the centre of a row for his "go to Pakistan" comments to some protestors, saying he did what a police officer and a patriot should do.

"The SP did what police should do, what a patriot should do..... Those who live in India but abuse it and hail Pakistan have no right to stay here," the BJP leader said.

"I urge those speaking against the SP to look at the entire incident or people of the country will ask questions from them," he said.

Those who raise "Pakistan zindabad" slogans in India cannot be garlanded and action should be taken against them, the minister added.

His remarks came after another Union minister, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said peace and not provocation should be priority and that action should be taken against the SP if the video of the officer making those remarks was true.

Giriraj Singh said Naqvi might not be aware of the entire incident.

Several BJP leaders, including Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, have defended Superintendent of Police Akhilesh Narayan Singh.

BJP vice president Uma Bharti had said that it was natural for the police officer to tell "rioters" to go to Pakistan if they were raising pro-Pakistan slogans.

The police officer had claimed that he had made these remarks, which were caught on video that surfaced last week, when some stone-pelting protestors ran away after raising pro-Pakistan slogans during agitation against the amended citizenship law.

His action, however, drew flak from several quarters as critics argued that a police officer should not make provocative remarks. They contended that no video evidence has emerged to back his claim that some protestors raised "Pakistan zindabad" slogans.