New Delhi: Union minister Giriraj Singh, who had labelled Shaheen Bagh as the training ground for suicide bombers and Deoband as “atankvaad ki gangotri”, was summoned by BJP president J.P. Nadda on Saturday apparently over his controversial remarks.
Often in news for his controversial remarks, the Union minister of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries had earlier this week, in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, stoked a controversy when he said that Deoband, a town in the area, which also houses a famous Islamic seminary, is the “Gangotri of terrorism” from where terrorists like Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed came.
“I had once said earlier that Deoband is the Gangotri of terrorists. All most-wanted terrorists of the world came from Deoband, including Hafiz Saeed or any of the others.
“These people are not against CAA, they are against India. This is a kind of a Khilafat movement,” Mr Singh had said while attacking the anti-CAA protests in Deoband.
After facing flak for his statement, the Union minister said that he stands by his statement. “My statement is correct and if someone has a problem then ask Uttar Pradesh police to list how many people are involved in terror activities,” he told reporters.
Deoband has seen fierce anti-CAA protests by Muslim women over the past months and has faced attack from BJP leaders.
Earlier this month, the Union minister had claimed that Shaheen Bagh, the anti-CAA protest site in the national capital, was a training ground for suicide bombers while referring to a video in which a some children made objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This Shaheen Bagh protest is no longer an agitation. A group of suicide bombers are being raised here and conspiracy against the country is being hatched in its capital,” he had claimed.
