Uma Bharti extends support to Meerut top cop who told Muslim protesters 'Go to Pakistan'

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New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti on Saturday (December 28) extended her support to Meerut Superintendent of Police Akhilesh Narain Singh after his video showing him using some sensitive communal remarks on Muslim protestors and asking them to 'Go back to Pakistan' went viral. The BJP leader also accused Congress of politicising the issue.

Taking to Twitter, Uma shared a series of tweets writing that the top cop's reaction on the protesters was 'natural'. "The reaction of Meerut City SP Akhilesh Narain Singh telling the protesters to go to Pakistan was natural as the protesters were raising slogans in favour of Pakistan, were abusing the police and were also throwing stones at them," she wrote. 

Taking pot-shots at the former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, she said, "Both of them while making it a political issue are forgetting the human side of the story that even the police have families and the spirit of patriotism also prevails in them. The Congress is making it a political issue."

In a viral video, Meerut SP Akhilesh Narain Singh, in riot gear, can be heard telling some Muslim protesters to go to Pakistan and threatening to ruin the career of those who allegedly indulged in violence.

Uma Bharti also accused Congress of politicising the issue. The former Union Minister in a series of tweets said, "The reaction of Meerut City SP Akhilesh Narain Singh telling the protesters to go to Pakistan was natural as the protesters were raising slogans in favour of Pakistan, were abusing the police and were also throwing stones at them."

Criticising the Congress and Left parties, Bharti said, "The normalcy has started to return across the country, including Uttar Pradesh. But the Congress and Left parties cannot digest it. They are the same people who divided the country in the name of religion, who were behind the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. And now they have stood with the people who are raising slogans for Pakistan."

In a viral video, Singh is seen telling the protesters to go back to Pakistan. The video also shows a senior police officer in riot gear speaking to members of the Muslim community, telling them to go to Pakistan, and threatening to ruin the career of those who allegedly indulged in violence.  "Where will you go? I will sort out this lane. The ones tying black and yellow bands, tell them to go to Pakistan. You eat here but sing praises of another place… This lane is now familiar to me. And once I remember, I can even reach your grandmother," Singh can be heard shouting at the protesters. 

He is further heard warning the locals that if anything happens there, they would be paying a price for it. "Every man from each house will be arrested," the official can be heard saying in the video. To all these remarks, the two men standing there respond with "you are right" and an affirmative nod. The police personnel were chasing four protesters in the lane when the top cop was recorded warning a few locals around him with controversial communal statements.

Meanwhile, Meerut Police claimed they faced extreme stone-throwing and violence from protestors last Friday. "Protesters were pelting stones on police officers and were raising pro-Pakistan slogans. The slogans were raised after they saw us. Papers carrying objectionable content in support of PFI were distributed in Meerut. But our officers showed restraint and did not misbehave with everyone. We did not misbehave with elders who were present there. Those who are running the video now are trying to vitiate the atmosphere." 

Earlier, Priyanka Gandhi, who is also in-charge for eastern Uttar Pradesh, in a tweet slammed the Uttar Pradesh`s Yogi Adityanath government and the conduct of some of the senior police officers in the state. She wrote on Twitter: "Indian Constitution does not allow anyone to use such language. When you are occupying a high post, your responsibility increases manifold. The BJP has poisoned the institutions so much so that these officers have no respect for the constitutional oath they have taken."