UP minister says anti-nationals will die dog’s death, threatens to change AMU’s name
Earlier in January, Uttar Pradesh Labour Minister Raghuraj Singh had threatened to “bury alive” those raising slogans against Prime Minster Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
A fortnight after threatening to “bury alive” those raising slogans against Prime Minster Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, UP’s labour minister Raghuraj Singh stoked another controversy after a video surfaced on Wednesday where he is purportedly says that “anti nationals will die a dog’s death”.
He went on to threaten that the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) would be renamed Hindustan University.
Raghuraj Singh’s comments came at a function for the arrival of Ganga Yatra at Atrauli town in Aligarh.
‘Kutte ki maut mare jayenge ye log jo deshdrohi ka kaam karte hain (Anti-nationals working against the country will die a dog’s death)” Singh said. He went on to say that the “police have been directed to shoot such anti-national in encounters.”
He then turned his attention to AMU, accusing the university encouraging hooliganism of its students and threatened to change the varsity’s name.
“Enough of their ‘goondagardi’ and I want to tell the ‘goonda’ of Aligarh Muslim University that we will change the name of Aligarh Muslim University to Hindustan University on the day we wish to do so because we want universities to produce Hindustanis and not Pakistanis,” the minister said.
“If they want to live in Hindustan then they have to live as Hindustanis and cannot live here as Pakistanis. One cannot live in India and continue opposing it,” asserted the minister who recently complained of receiving threats for his earlier statement of burying alive opponents and had sought police protection.
When contacted on phone, Singh owned up his statements at Atrauli but insisted that they were for the “anti nationals’ but remained unrepentant about his treat to bury alive opponents.
“I still stand by my statement in Aligarh on January 13 when I said that those raising slogans against PM Narendra Modi and CM Yogi Aditya Nath would be buried alive and we will not fail in this,” said Raghuraj Singh.
An AMU official who did not wish to be named said the university usually avoided reacting to comments of politicians.
Former president of AMU students’ union M Salman Imtiaz said it reflected mindset of the BJP which wanted to enter the AMU campus and interfere in it.
