Go join Naxals, so government can shoot you: Hansraj Ahir to doctors absent from hospital event

Mumbai: Furious over the absence of doctors from a function in a government hospital, Union Minister Hansraj Ahir on Monday suggested that the doctors should join the Naxals, so that the government can shoot them down.

"The mayor came, the deputy mayor came but what stopped the doctors from coming for the event," question a visibly angry Ahir, who expected doctors to stop all their duties and attend the event presided by him. 

The Minister of State for Home Affairs, who was speaking at the inauguration of a 24x7 store for generic medicines at a government-run hospital in eastern Maharashtra's Chandrapur, which he represents in the Lok Sabha.

"What do the Naxals want? They don't want democracy... So these people (the absent doctors) don't want democracy, then they should join the Naxals. Why are you here? Then (once you join the Naxals) we will pump you with bullets, why you are dispensing pills here?" said Ahir.

Ahir wondered if it was appropriate for doctors to go on leave when a "democratically-elected" minister was on a visit.