Yogi vows to finish off mafia, gives Ramcharitmanas lessons
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, February 25: A day after a witness in the killing of a former legislator was gunned down, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath vowed to reduce mafia in the state to smithereens (mitti me mila denge). The Hindu poster boy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also tore into the Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) over its leader Swami Prasad Maurya’s spree of tearing apart ‘Ramcharitmanas’.
The chief minister left none in doubt that he was speaking of the jailed don turned politician Atiq Ahmed. He said that his government would destroy the mafia in the state. Adityanath was speaking in the UP Assembly while taking part in the proceedings ahead of the discussion on the motion of thanks on the Governor Anandiben Patel’s address on Friday and assured the house that no mafia would be allowed to flourish in the state. “The government has taken cognizance of the Prayagraj incident. Results of his government’s policy of zero tolerance for crime would be there for everyone to see very soon and no one should have any doubts about it,” said Adityanath.
His remarks came amid reports of the special task force of the UP Police having apprehended two sons of Ahmed and his associates for the incident in which a witness was gunned down. The incident came as a shocker, which also dented the image of the state as having improved the law and order situation on the basis of which the state was able to convince a large number of investors to invest.
Training his gun at the SP, Adityanath said: “Is it not true that the accused against whom the FIR has been lodged was made an MP by Samajwadi Party? You will raise all the criminals, garland them and then blame others when a crime takes place. By doing this, you are just making a spectacle of yourself.”
Without naming Ahmed, Adityanath said that he (Atiq Ahmed) is a mafia supported by the SP and who has been punished for his criminal acts by the current government. Taking a dig at Leader of Opposition Akhilesh Yadav, the chief minister said: “You needed an excuse for your misdeeds. They have been patronizing mafia and criminals continuously. Crime runs in their veins. They haven’t learnt anything except crime. The whole state knows this. And today, they have come to give clarification.”
He stated that the mafia who carried out this act (Prayagraj killing) is currently out of UP. He said that the accused became an MLA from Allahabad West in 1996 and an MP in 2004 and 2009 with the support of the Samajwadi Party.
The chief minister also gave lessons on Ramcharitmanas to the SP, which has not yet condoned the action of the party leader Maurya of the campaign to tear off pages of the Ramchaitmanas. “Shudra refers to the labour class, rather than to a caste. Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar has also said that Dalit society should not be referred to as ‘Shudra’. Dhol is a musical instrument. Ganwar means uneducated, ‘Shudra’ means labour class, not any particular caste. Nari means women. It was written during a time when women’s conditions were not any good,” added the chief minister.
The chief minister further hit out at the SP, saying “the moment Global Investors Summit was about to begin, the Samajwadi Party started the Ramcharitmanas row about Tulsi Das ji”. “Some people tried to tear Ramcharitmanas. What would have happened if the same thing would have happened with some other religion? Does it mean whoever wants to insult Hindus, can do it? You want to insult the entire community,” asked the chief minister.
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