New Delhi: Junior Finance Minister Anurag Thakur faced slogans of “Goli Maarna Band Karo” or “stop shooting” in parliament on Monday as he responded to questions from lawmakers on the economy. At least 30 lawmakers assembled in the centre of the Lok Sabha waved placards and also shouted “Shame, Shame”.
The slogans were in response to the minister’s election speech in Delhi last week during which he was seen on video urging a crowd to chant “Goli Maaro S***n Ko” or “shoot the traitors” in reference to protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The minister has escaped with mild censure from the Election Commission despite three incidents of firing at protesters in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh and neighbouring Jamia Millia Islamia, the heart of anti-CAA protests in the capital, since then. The government and the BJP have not taken any action against him yet.
In a widely-shared video, Thakur, who was campaigning for BJP candidate Manish Chaudhary, was seen chanting “desh ke gaddaron ko”, to which the crowd enthusiastically replied “Goli Maaro Sa***n Ko”; the entire chant translates to “shoot down the traitors who betray the country”.
A defiant Anurag Thakur later told reporters who asked him to identify the “traitors”: “First you should watch the entire video… Then you should see the mood of the people of Delhi.”
The minister was banned from campaigning for this week’s Delhi elections for 72 hours and will also be off the BJP’s “star campaigner” list, the Election Commission ruled on Thursday. However, once the ban expires, Thakur will be free to campaign once more.
The Jamia Millia Islamia Teachers Association has blamed the BJP leader for the firing incidents near the university, in one of which a student was injured on Saturday, saying nothing can be more “anti-national” than a minister inciting citizens to indulge in violence from a public platform.
