Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 28 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday lambasted the "bring 10 Muslim girls and get a job" remarks made by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Raghavendra Pratap Singh, terming them a form of "hate speech" and an attempt to incite communal and caste-based hatred in Uttar Pradesh and other states.
Referring to what she described as a "poisonous and violent game" by mischievous elements, Mayawati alleged that certain "criminal and anti-social elements" were taking the law into their own hands under the guise of opposing religious conversion and so-called "love jihad".
"The narrow-minded and hateful statement of 'bring a Muslim girl, get a job', along with the mischievous elements' poisonous and violent game in UP, Uttarakhand, and other states--where they give names like religious conversion, love jihad, and who knows what else to spread communal and casteist hatred, enmity, unrest, anarchy, and threats to people's lives, property, and faith, while taking the law into their own hands against it--is highly condemnable," Mayawati posted on social media platform X.
Intensifying her attack on the former BJP MLA, the BSP chief stated that such "anti-social elements" pose a serious threat to the functioning of a civilised and constitutional government. She demanded that strict action be taken against such individuals instead of protecting them.
"Such criminal, anarchic, and anti-social elements pose an open challenge and threat to a civilised and constitutional government. Instead of providing them support and protection, governments should take strict legal action against such people to ensure the establishment of the rule of law, keeping in mind the welfare and interests of the state's millions of people--this is in the broader interest of the public and the nation," Mayawati added.
Her remarks came after former BJP MLA Raghavendra Pratap Singh, during a public rally in Siddharthnagar, Uttar Pradesh, reportedly said, "Bring at least 10 Muslim girls. I will get you married. I am also announcing that the one who engages in this will get employment."