Waris Pathan’s remark led to a ruckus in Vidhan Sabha
Waris Pathan’s remark led to a ruckus in Vidhan Sabha
The Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday suspended a member of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Waris Pathan, after he made aggressive gestures and proclaimed that he would never say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ even if he were to die.
A first-time legislator, Mr Pathan, became aggressive after a BJP member, Ram Kadam, referred to his colleague, Imtiaz Jalil’s remarks, and asked whether he would say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. Mr Jalil had taken objection to the government’s decision to spend hundreds of crores of rupees on a memorial of Chhatrapati Shivaji in the Arabian Sea. “When you don’t have money for farmers, it is not good to spend tax payers’ money on the memorial,” he said. Referring to intolerance over the slogan, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, Mr Jalil said that the issue had been deliberately raked up for the past three to four days, and such things had increased since BJP came to power at the Centre and in the state. He further said that Vijay Mallya, who duped banks of Rs 9,000 crore, would have willingly said, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ as he flew from India because such things were allowed only in India.
Mr Jalil alleged that they were being forced to say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ to prove their patriotism. “India is our country and we love it, but we will not shout slogans under pressure from the Sangh (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh),” he said. Disrupting Mr Jalil, BJP legislator Mr Kadam asked whether he would say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. To this, not Mr Jalil, but Mr Pathan stood up and said he would not say the slogan. “I will never say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ even if my life is at stake,” said Mr Pathan.
His remark led to a ruckus and verbal abuse by angered members of all parties. BJP’s Ashish Shelar and Shiv Sena’s Gulabrao Patil called Mr Pathan anti-national. “You must say Bharat mata ki jai if you want to live here. Mr Pathan has insulted not only the national figures but also lakhs of freedom fighters. He should be suspended immediately,” urged Mr Patil. Congress’ Abdul Sattar echoed Mr Patil saying, “He (Mr Pathan) should be suspended. Muslims in the state will have to face the heat because of his statement.”
Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse said, “Earlier, anti-national elements used to create trouble outside. Now, they have entered the Vidhan Sabha.” Mr Khadse proposed that Mr Pathan be suspended for the remaining period of the session. Minister of State for Legislative Affairs, Ranjit Patil, moved a motion in this regard. Speaker Haribhau Bagde announced that the motion had been unanimously adopted and the suspension would be in place till the budget session of the legislature concluded on April 13.
Later, Mr Jalil told reporters that his party was not anti-national. “We say Jai Hind but we can’t be forced to shout a slogan under pressure from the Sangh. We shouldn’t be branded as anti-national just because we are not saying a specific slogan,” he said. “We were not allowed to speak in the House, but nobody could stop us from raising our voice in public outside the House,” he said, adding that the secularism of Congress and NCP was fake.
