Image Source: NDTV
Deoria: In a shocking incident, a BJP MLA was caught on camera cautioning the people against buying vegetables from Muslim vendors. After the video of the incident went viral, the MLA came under heavy criticism, however, he insists he has not done anything wrong.
In the 14-second video that has gone viral on social media, 74-year-old MLA Suresh Tiwari can be heard telling the people in Hindi that “there is no need to buy vegetables from ‘Miyas’ (Muslims)”.
According to a report by NDTV, the controversial incident occurred in the MLA’s constituency, Deoria in Uttar Pradesh, just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the people not to give the coronavirus pandemic a communal colour.
Responding to the criticism, the MLA said that he was merely “interacting with a group of 10-12 people” when they started talking about the lockdown. MLA Tiwari says that during the conversation, he was “told that Muslim vendors who are selling vegetables are spitting on them”.
“So I told them to avoid buying from these vendors to make sure that they don’t get coronavirus as I cannot do anything. What should an MLA say? Did I say anything wrong?” he asked.
After the controversy hit headlines, BJP national president JP Nadda said that comments such as those made by the Deoria MLA “will not be tolerable”. NDTV also reported that Nadda has asked the Uttar Pradesh BJP unit to investigate the incident and asked the party leaders to refrain from making such remarks.
MLA Tiwari has also been asked by the BJP to provide an explanation for his comments.
It can be recalled that there have been many incidents over the past few weeks, where the coronavirus pandemic has been communalised by certain elements. This has become an issue especially in the Gulf, where Indian citizens have been called out for living in Arab countries while also speaking ill about members belonging to the Muslim community.
High ranking citizens and even royals of the Gulf have especially called out MP Tejasvi Surya for his tweets against women of the Muslim community.
