Violence being incited in name of anti-Waqf Act stir: Yogi
Lakhs of acres have been encroached in the name of Waqf across the country and in the state, alleges CM
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday denounced the violence witnessed in West Bengal during protests against the recently enacted Waqf Amendment Act.
He also criticised the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP), accusing them of continuously disrespecting national heroes, including Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar whose birth anniversary will be celebrated on Monday. The Congress did not even allow a proper memorial to Ambedkar, he alleged.
Adityanath was speaking at the ‘Bharat Ratna Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Samman Abhiyan’ organised at Bhaagidari Bhavan in Lucknow. He stated that lakhs of acres of land have been encroached in the name of Waqf across the country and in the state.
Encroachers do not have papers or revenue records, so the Waqf Amendment Bill was passed in Parliament, he said.
“Now when action is being taken, violence is being instigated,” he said.
“Yesterday, three Hindus were dragged out of their house and killed in Murshidabad, West Bengal,” he said.
“All of them were Dalit, poor and deprived Hindus. This section will benefit most from the land which comes back to the government in the revenue records,” the chief minister said.
“If this land comes back in the revenue records, the poor will also be able to take advantage of multi-storey buildings. The government will make good flats there and make them available. They (opposition parties) fear that if this happens, their vote bank and politics of misleading will end forever,” the chief minister said.
Commenting on violence against the minoirites in Bangladesh, Adityanath said: “Hindus who are being tortured in Bangladesh are Dalits. The Congress, SP and Mamata Banerjee did not raise their voice in their favour.”
“The BJP is committed to protecting every Hindu. The party brought the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) so that if any Sikh, Hindu, Jain or Buddhist is being persecuted in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and comes to India, then he should get citizenship,” the chief minister said.
But the Congress and the SP are opposing it, he added.
“If Hindus suffering in Pakistan and Bangladesh do not come to India, where will they go?” he asked.
Attacking the Opposition on CAA, he said: “ PM Narendra Modi took forward the task of granting Indian citizenship to the deprived and downtrodden Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan under the CAA Act.”
“But these people (Opposition parties) protested, resorted to arson and vandalised the country. But the government was firm on its stand and granted citizenship,” he said.
“If there is a Hindu suffering in Pakistan, Bangladesh or anywhere in the world, he will ultimately be forced to take refuge in India. Parties like the Congress, SP and the TMC kept them as refugees, but the BJP adopted them,” the chief minister said.
“Three years ago, when we were associated with the Run for Unity program on the birthday of Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the state, the SP chief was glorifying Jinnah, the destroyer of India.”
“When it comes to honoring the great men of India, these people spread some propaganda, so that the work of dividing the society can be done.”
“Insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji, Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, Maharana Pratap, Maharana Sanga is a part of the same sequence,” he added.
During the 2024 Lok Sabha poll campaign, people got fake booklets of the Constitution printed and misled voters, the chief minister said.
He said that in 2012, when the SP government came to power, the then chief minister had openly stated that memorials built in the name of social justice icons would be demolished and turned into marriage halls.
He pointed out how institutions named after key Dalit leaders were renamed.
“In Lucknow, a university was built in the name of Manyawar Kanshi Ram. Similarly, medical colleges in Saharanpur and Kannauj were named after Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar. But their names were later changed,” he said, adding that his government has now declared that the Kannauj medical college will again be named after Babasaheb.
Whenever there’s an effort to honour national icons, Congress and SP leaders create false narratives to divide society, he added.
Accusing these parties of consistently insulting figures who represent social justice, he said while they praise figures like Aurangzeb, they criticise great leaders like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
“Repeated disrespect towards Chhatrapati Shivaji, Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, Maharana Pratap, and Maharana Sangha is part of a pattern that reflects the true nature—or DNA—of the Congress and Samajwadi Party,” Yogi said.
“In 1952, Dr Ambedkar was deliberately defeated in elections. In 1954, his own assistant was made to contest against him, and even Prime Minister Nehru campaigned against him,” the chief minister said. It was only when a Hindu Mahasabha MP gave up his Pune seat that Dr Ambedkar could enter Parliament, he said.
Yogi alleged that Congress and Samajwadi Party have always sided with divisive forces. He mentioned how in a recent assembly session, the BJP government gifted every member of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council a copy of the original Constitution, unlike the Congress, which didn’t even allow a proper cremation or memorial for Dr Ambedkar.
He also criticised the 1976 amendment to the Constitution’s Preamble during the Emergency, saying it added words that Dr Ambedkar himself had opposed.
He credited PM Modi for developing the “Panchteerth” related to Dr Ambedkar’s life and giving him the honor he deserved.
He further highlighted that a new international research and cultural centre dedicated to Dr Ambedkar is being built in Lucknow, where research on his vision and ideas will be conducted.
He told BJP workers: “On Baba Saheb’s birth anniversary, go to Dalit and marginalised communities and tell them the real facts.”
Referring to a book written three years ago by Rajya Sabha MP, former SC/ST Commission chairman and ex-UP director general of police Brijlal, the chief minister urged BJP workers to read it.
The book focuses on two key Dalit figures from the time of India’s independence, offering a comparative study.
On one hand, Dr Ambedkar had declared, “I will always remain an Indian,” emphasising his unwavering identity with India. On the other, Jogendra Nath Mandal had supported the creation of Pakistan but could not stay there for even a year, the chief minister said.
Adityanath pointed out that the consequences of Mandal’s actions were still being felt by Hindus in Bangladesh today.
Prominent among those present on the occasion were BJP’s SC Morcha National President Lal Singh Arya, state BJP President Chaudhary Bhupendra Singh, State General Secretary (Organization) Dharmapal, Deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak and others.
