A former BJP lawmaker in Uttar Pradesh has allegedly promised jobs to Hindu youths if they “pick up” Muslim girls, injecting fresh venom into the politics of communal polarisation.
“Pick up Muslim girls and get a job,” Raghavendra Pratap Singh, former BJP MLA of Domariyaganj and in-charge of the Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV), is heard saying at a public meeting in Dhankharpur village in Siddharthnagar district on October 16.
The remark gained a wider audience after a video clip that purports to show Singh delivering the speech surfaced on social media on Tuesday, prompting the Opposition
to demand strong action against him.
The HYV is a Hindutva group founded by Yogi Adityanath in the late 1990s when he was Gorakhpur MP. After taking over as chief minister in 2017, Adityanath had claimed that the group had been dissolved, but it is still active in many parts of the state.
“If our two girls go there, you bring a minimum of 10 Muslim girls,” Singh told Hindu youths, apparently seeking to turn the tables on “love jihad”.
Love jihad refers to an alleged conspiracy by Muslim men to woo and convert young Hindu women.
“How many youths are ready? Raise your hands,” Singh said at the rally. Some of the attendees raised their hands and chanted “Jai Sri Ram”.
“I’ll organise your marriage. And I announce that I’ll arrange a job with enough salary for someone who brings them,” Singh added.
It was not clear if Singh was exhorting Hindu youths to lure or abduct Muslim girls.
Claiming that two Hindu girls from the area had eloped with Muslim men and converted to Islam in the past month, Singh threatened revenge against those involved.
“The two who have left in the last one month… I am unable to digest this. Muslims! Listen to me. Something seriously vengeful will take place. I tell you (the Muslims) to tell the Mulla-Maulavis that something serious may happen in the coming days,” Singh warned.
“The days of Akhilesh Yadav have gone. It is the rule of Yogiji. You (Hindu youths) don’t need to fear anybody,” he added.
Repeating his statement before the media, he said: “They (Hindu youths) must respond to my call. There is the rule of Yogiji.”
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2012 to 2017. There is a general perception that the SP represents the Muslim-Yadav population of the state.
SP’s Saiyada Khatun, who had defeated Singh in the 2022 Assembly elections, said: “The leader belongs to a party that gives the slogan Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao. But he is openly threatening Muslim daughters. I gave a written complaint to the police, but no action was taken against him. The police and the administration will be responsible for any communal violence here.”
Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati termed Singh’s remark “shameful and objectionable”.
“Such a poisonous remark, which puts someone in danger, should be condemned. They are posing a danger to a civilised society and a democratic government,” she said.