Not new to controversy, BJP’s Dilip Ghosh kicked up another storm by asking why protestors staging an agitation at Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) “were not dying”. His comment came after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that almost 100 people lost their lives during the demonetization exercise from standing in queues at banks.
At an event organized by the Kolkata Press Club Dilip Ghosh said, “What surprises me is that people were dying after standing in line for two to three hours. But now women and children are sitting in temperatures as low as 4-5 degrees Celsius but nobody is dying! What nectar did they have? I am astonished! What is their incentive (for protesting)?”
“It is surprising that in #ShaheenBagh, day after day women are sitting at night with children, in 4-5 degree, but no one is dying…,” said Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh.
It doesn’t cost anything to behave like a human, but if you don’t you think like a demon! #CAAProtests #NRC pic.twitter.com/I6x750dclg— Rashtriya Janata Dal (@RJDforIndia) January 29, 2020
Hinting at a possible motive behind the protest he said, “I find it very interesting. People are very excited about Shaheen Bagh because women and children are protesting there day and night. Some say they are getting 500 rupees every day. This may or may not be the case. But the truth about the Popular Front of India has come out. The truth about Shaheen Bagh will also emerge. We will make sure it does.”
The women-led protests at Shaheen Bagh against the CAA have been going on for over a month. This is not the first time that Dilip Ghosh or other BJP ministers have spewed hate or made inexplicable comments against the protestors.
Dilip Ghosh had earlier called theatre personalities protesting against the CAA “spineless devils” and “parasites”.
BJP MP Parvesh Verma at an interview had said, “Lakhs of people gather there [Shaheen Bagh]. People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, and kill them.” Considering that Shaheen Bagh protests are led by women, this was a particularly bizarre and illogical comment.
The UP Shia Waqf Board Waseem Rizvi chief had also called the women at Shaheen Bagh ‘badkirdaar auratein’ insinuating that they took money to stage protests; apart from going ahead to question their ‘character’.
Related:
Pistol brandishing man threatens Shaheen Bagh protesters
BJP MP suggests Shaheen Bagh protesters are rapists
Shia Waqf Board’s Waseem Rizvi calls CAA women protesters “badkirdaar auratein”