Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said that the coronavirus doesn’t see caste, religion, or creed, but Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suresh Tiwari seems to have not learned anything from it as he has reportedly asked people not to purchase vegetables from Muslim vendors.
A video of the BJP MLA from Barhaj Assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh is going viral on social media platforms. He can be heard making the remarks in the footage.
“Keep one thing in mind, I am telling this to everyone openly, no one should purchase vegetables from Muslims,” he can be heard telling this to some people, including government officials.
When contacted, the legislator admitted that he said this last week during a visit to the Nagar Palika of his constituency, reported The Indian Express.
“After hearing complaints that people of a community were selling vegetables after contaminating them with saliva in an attempt to spread coronavirus disease, I advised them not to purchase vegetables from them… After the situation gets normal, then decide what they want,” the MLA was quoted as saying in the report.
However, he emphasised that he just gave his opinion and it was up to the people whether they follow it or not. “Everyone can see what Jamaat members have done in the country,” Tiwari said while referring to the huge congregation of the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area last month.
Reacting to the legislator’s remark, BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said the party will question him about the circumstance in which he said. The spokesperson said that the BJP does not endorse such remarks.
