New Delhi: The top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken strong exception to West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma’s recent comment calling for an “economic boycott” of a particular community and has called for an unedited video of his purported remark, ThePrint has learnt.
Verma’s remarks came while speaking at a meeting, called ‘Virat Hindu Sabha’, organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s local unit and other Hindu organisations in the East Delhi region of the Capital on 9 October. In his speech that has gone viral, Verma had called for the “total boycott” of “these people” without naming any particular community.
The opposition, as well as political commentators, criticised his speech for being seemingly against the Muslim community. The West Delhi MP, however, has maintained that his address did not target any particular community and was also not a “hate speech”.
The event, where Verma made the remark, was called to protest against the murder of 25-year-old Manish, a resident of Sunder Nagri located near Dilshad Garden, allegedly by three Muslims.
According to a senior BJP leader, the central leadership is upset with his comments that come at a time when the party is trying to win over the minority community especially the Pasmanda Muslim community by focusing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra of “Sab ka Sath, Sab ka Vikas” ahead of the assembly polls in many states as well as the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
A party source also said that the top brass has called for the unedited video of his viral comment which is being seen as “anti-Muslim” in nature.
“It is still not clear whether action will be taken against Verma or not as so far he has denied targeting any particular community. But the central leadership is upset that yet another controversy has been generated and it hurts India’s image internationally,” said the source to ThePrint.
Earlier they had maintained a studied silence about the attack on author Salman Rushdie, a decision that some party leaders had attributed to the outrage that former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s controversial comments on the Prophet Muhammad in May had generated globally, especially in the Arab countries.
“The top brass is quite upset and at a time when the party wants the focus to be on development and the work undertaken by the Modi government, such incidents derail the entire narrative. This is especially used by the opposition to target the BJP,” he added.
During Nupur Sharma’s episode, the BJP had to issue a statement denouncing insults to any religious personality.
Another party functionary explained that the “economic boycott” remark is a serious matter as most of the small shops are apparently owned by the Pasmanda Muslim community and the BJP is trying to garner their support, something which even PM Modi has spoken about.
However, there are some within the party who sought to defend Verma. “He was only talking about the anti-social elements and did not name any particular community. Speaking against criminals can’t be a crime,” said a Delhi BJP leader.
Opposition leader Shama Mohamed had slammed Verma for spreading “hatred among communities” and demanded PM Modi’s response on the issue.
“BJP MP Parvesh Verma orders the people of Delhi to financial boycott Muslims. Will @DelhiPolice act against this man for inciting hatred amongst communities? Does PM Modi condone this speech? Is this what BJP meant by Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas! Speak up @narendramodi,” wrote Congress spokesperson Mohamed in her tweet Sunday.
BJP MP Parvesh Verma orders the people of Delhi to financial boycott Muslims. Will @DelhiPolice act against this man for inciting hatred amongst communities? Does PM Modi condone this speech? Is this what BJP meant by Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas! Speak up @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/L8XtjlxbQB
— Dr. Shama Mohamed (@drshamamohd) October 9, 2022
Also read: Police register FIR against organisers for ‘hate speech’ event in Delhi; VHP says ‘laughable’