BJP Lawmaker warns against buying vegetables from Muslim vendors to keep safe from virus

[Cyber_Security]

A lawmaker from India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Suresh Tiwari from Uttar Pradesh, has asked people of his constituency not to buy vegetables from Muslim vendors to protect themselves from the coronavirus, Indian media reported on Tuesday.

In a widely circulated video on Indian social media, Tiwari can be seen telling people to "keep one thing in mind [...] do not buy vegetables from miyan (Muslims)".

Talking to Indian publication The Wire, Tiwari later confirmed he had made those remarks "around April 17-18", and defended his statement by saying he had heard reports from people in his constituency that Muslim vendors were "spitting on vegetables before selling them".

He said he "advised the people to [not buy vegetables from them] so they could protect themselves from the coronavirus".

Referring to himself as a "legislator who was listening to a complaint", Tiwari questioned what was wrong in his statement.

While talking to The Indian Express Tiwari referred to a congregation of the Tableeghi Jamaat in Delhi last month, which was linked to dozens of infections and several deaths, and said: "Everyone can see what Jamaat members have done in the country".

State BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said the party did "not endorse such statements" and would question the legislator over his remarks.

The Wire quoted BJP national president JP Nadda as saying that Tiwari's statement was "irresponsible and will not be tolerated by the party".

All India Radio News in a post on Twitter said the BJP issued a show cause notice to the legislator over his remarks "targeting a particular community".

https://twitter.com/x/status/1255161789794275329
Fanning hate

The coronavirus has exacerbated festering divisions between the country's majority Hindu population and its sizeable Muslim minority in a country already reeling from communal violence triggered by the BJP-led government's contentious citizenship law that fast-tracks citizenship for newcomers who belong to six religions, but excludes Muslims.

Since the virus outbreak hampered lives in the Indian capital, many Muslim vendors have seen their livelihoods threatened by the establishment of quarantine zones in densely packed areas like New Delhi's Dharavi.

Many Muslims feel unfairly blamed for spreading the disease after a cluster emerged at a gathering of Tableeghi Jamaat in New Delhi last month.

Sensational news coverage about the event, fanned by some Hindu nationalist politicians, helped spur the trending topic “Coronajihad” on Indian social media earlier in April.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP government has since faced criticism from several quarters for fanning the religious divide after the head of the Tableeghi Jamaat was charged with culpable homicide earlier this month for the coronavirus surge in the country.

Yesterday, in a strongly worded statement, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmooq Qureshi urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and its member countries to condemn vilification of Indian Muslims for allegedly spreading the coronavirus.

The same day, the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that India be declared a “country of particular concern” for religious freedom – a designation used against a nation guilty of particularly severe violations of religious freedom under the US International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998.

The panel noted that this was the first time since 2004 that India was being designated on the religious freedom blacklist.

BJP lawmaker warns against buying vegetables from Muslim vendors to keep safe from virus

Tiwari said he was "advising as legislator after reports that Muslim vendors spit on vegetables before selling them".

www.dawn.com

 

[Dawood Magsi]

Indian Sarkari Quota muslims had it comin, they shah sey ziyada shah k wafadaar bannay hohay thay par wo wafadaari bhi kaam na aayi, ab bas koi laggay hathhon Awasi ki salwaar uttar kar uss ka patka marwa dey to maza hi aa jaaey

 

[Dream Seller]

India is a terrorist state and minorities are in danger there.

 

[Ratan]

The Guardian: AFP in Washington, Tue 28 Apr 2020
India should be placed on religious freedom blacklist, US panel says
Commission says religious minorities face ‘increasing assault’ under Narendra Modi but state department unlikely to take action
A US government panel has called for India to be put on a religious freedom blacklist over a “drastic” downturn under the prime minister, Narendra Modi, triggering a sharp response from New Delhi.

The US commission on international religious freedom recommends but does not set policy, and there is virtually no chance the state department will follow its lead on India, an increasingly close US ally.

In an annual report, the bipartisan panel said that India should join the ranks of “countries of particular concern” that would be subject to sanctions if they do not improve their records.

“In 2019, religious freedom conditions in India experienced a drastic turn downward, with religious minorities under increasing assault,” the report said.

It called on the US to impose punitive measures, including visa bans, on Indian officials believed responsible and grant funding to civil society groups that monitor hate speech.

The commission said that Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, which won a convincing election victory last year, “allowed violence against minorities and their houses of worship to continue with impunity, and also engaged in and tolerated hate speech and incitement to violence”.

It pointed to comments by the home minister, Amit Shah, who referred to mostly Muslim migrants as “termites”, and to a citizenship law that has triggered nationwide protests.

It also highlighted the revocation of the autonomy of Kashmir, which was India’s only Muslim-majority state, and allegations that Delhi police turned a blind eye to mobs who attacked Muslim neighbourhoods in February this year.

The Indian government, which has long been irritated by the commission’s comments, quickly rejected the report.

“Its biased and tendentious comments against India are not new. But on this new occasion, its misrepresentation has reached new levels,” a foreign ministry spokesman, Anurag Srivastava, said.

“We regard it as an organization of particular concern and will treat it accordingly,” he said in a statement.

The state department designates nine “countries of particular concern” on religious freedom – China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Pakistan, India’s historic rival, was added by the state department in 2018 after years of appeals by the commission, which was appalled by attacks on minorities and abuse of blasphemy laws.

In its latest report, the commission asked that all nine countries remain on the list. In addition to India, it sought the inclusion of four more – Nigeria, Russia, Syria and Vietnam.

 

[Jazbaati]

So muslims should also stop buying from Hindu shopkeepers. If that is how they want to play the game then it can work both ways since there are enough muslims there.

 

[Masud Javed]

parhe likhey jahil

 

[abdsilva]

he is fool .