Union Minister Anurag Thakur, who has come under severe criticism for raising controversial “shoot the traitors” chant during Delhi Assembly elections, on Sunday refuted that he ever raised such a slogan.
During a press conference, a reporter asked Thakur about the chant that evoked sharp criticism. Thakur promptly reacted and said: "Aap log bilkul jhoot bol rahe hain... Apni jaankari mai sudhaar kijye..Aadhi jaankari kisi ke liye bhi gaatak hai (You are lying... Get the facts right...Half knowledge is dangerous)," Thakur said.
The BJP leader did not further respond to the question, saying that the matter was sub-judice.
Thakur was addressing a press conference here after meeting with stakeholders from various trades and industries during an interactive session organised by the Income Tax department.
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Evading further response on the issue, the Union minister chose to talk about the country's economy.
"India should move forward. We have taken big steps on the economy and will do so in future too…,” he said.
Thakur added, "From Monday, parliament session will begin, questions are raised there also from economy to various other issues and on that platform (in parliament), answers will be given on various matters."
"If you have questions on the economy, you should ask those..," he said when media persons kept fielding questions about his alleged hate speech
The Delhi High Court had recently expressed "anguish" over the Delhi Police's failure to register FIRs against three BJP leaders over their alleged hate speeches in connection with the CAA-related violence and asked the police commissioner to take a "conscious decision" on it.
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Amid nationwide protests against the amended citizenship law, Thakur had sparked controversy by leading the crowd at a BJP rally in New Delhi to chant “shoot the traitors”, which was captured in a video that went viral on social media.
The video showed the Union Minister of State for Finance at an election rally in the national capital, encouraging the crowd to chant after him ‘Desh ke gaddaro ko, goli maaro s**lo ko (shoot the traitors of the nation)’.
The controversial slogan is often used against protesters agitating against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). On December 21 last year, BJP leader Kapil Mishra was seen raising the same slogan in a pro-CAA rally in Delhi.
BJP leaders have repeatedly dubbed the protesters as being part of 'tukde tukde gang', a term used to refer to people who want to divide the nation, and as not having the best interest of the nation in their hearts.
