BJP MLA Haribhushan Thakur from Bisfi, in Bihar on Friday reiterated the need to take away voting rights of Muslims.
The saffron party legislator had made similar comments on Thursday. Thakur is known for making anti-Muslim remarks.
He told reporters on Friday: “As Muslims were given a separate country at the time of Partition in 1947, they should leave for Pakistan. And if they live in India, they should live like second-class citizens. We urge the government to take away Muslims’ voting rights.”
BJP’s state unit, meanwhile, issued him a showcause notice to explain his remarks.
“We have already dissociated ourselves from Thakur’s statement and served him a notice to explain why he said what he said,” Indian Express quoted BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal as saying.
Thakur also said Muslims MLAs should also face action from the Bihar Assembly Speaker if they refuse to sing ‘Vande Mataram’.
“What is the national song (for), after all? It is to worship the Earth, flowers and water. Will they (Muslims) stop drinking water (if they refuse to sing Vande Mataram),” he asked.
BJP’s alliance partner JD(U) also reacted sharply, with its spokesperson Neeraj Kumar calling Thakur’s comments “preposterous and inflammatory.”
“It seems Thakur has no knowledge of Indian citizenship. Who is he to decide citizenship of people living in India? He is not going to get any political mileage; he just wants to get media attention,” Indian Express quotes Kumar as saying.
