Patna: RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Sunday slammed MNS chief Raj Thackeray for blaming Bihari migrants for the Delhi gang-rape case and related incidents occurring elsewhere in the country.
"It has become a habit of (Raj) Thackeray and his extended family (Shiv Sena) to insult Bihari migrants all the time and for all crimes taking place in the country," he said. They should refrain from making habitual and insulting remarks against the Bihari migrants as these were not in national interests, Prasad told reporters.
Flaying the tendency to equate the people of a particular state with crimes, the RJD chief said people of a state in general could not be blamed for crimes, the perpetrators of which should be dealt with sternly. - The Thackerays were guilty of making insulting and provocative comments against the Bihari migrants to further their divisive political agenda, he said. Prasad said he sought to remind the MNS and Shiv Sena leaders that the people of Bihar have played a great role in promotion of unity and integrity of the country and they too have been victims of brutal assault and crimes, he said.
Prasad was referring to the murder of an engineering student from Bihar in Odisha recently.
The perpetrators of crimes against the Biharis in other states have not been targeted or subjected to insulting remarks and it would be unfair to do so, the RJD leader said.
Prasad also hit out at the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for "insensitive" remarks against women telling them various do`s and don`ts, besides attributing rising incidents of crime against women to the Western values and lifestyles being adopted by urban Indian people.
Bhagwat should note that men commit most of the crimes occurring in the society and not women, he said. PTI