Navjot Singh Sidhu had last year grabbed the headlines after he appointed alleged Pakistan sympathisers as his aides. Navjot Singh Sidhu had installed a notorious advisory panel and appointed Pyare Lal Garg and Malvinder Singh Mali as his trusted lieutenants.
Malvinder Singh Mali – Sidhu’s aide, described Kashmir as a separate ‘country’ in his Facebook post. Mali wrote a feature-length post on his Facebook wall and restated his venom and hatred for India and its inalienable territory. Pyare Lal Garg, meanwhile, questioned Captain Amarinder Singh’s criticism of Pakistan. Garg said any criticism of Pakistan by Captain was not in the interest of Punjab.
Now, Navjot Singh Sidhu’s man-Friday, Mohammad Mustafa has openly threatened Punjab’s Hindus. Mustafa has, by the way, served as Punjab’s DGP in the past. He is the husband of Congress MLA from Malerkotla, Razia Sultana. Malerkotla is Punjab’s only Muslim-dominated district. In August last year, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had appointed former IPS officer Mohammad Mustafa as his principal strategic adviser.
“I am a soldier of Muslims,” says Mustafa
In a video that has now gone viral on social media, Mohammad Mustafa can be heard threatening Punjabi Hindus, saying, “Allah ki kasam kha ke kheta hoon inka koi jalsa nahi hone denge. Main quami fauji hoon, main quami sipahi hoon, main RSS ka agent nahi hoon jo darke ghar mein ghus jaunga (I swear by Allah that I would not allow them to organise any event. I am a warrior and soldier of my community; I am not an RSS agent who will hide in fear.)”
“अल्लाह की क़सम ,मैं क़ौमी सिपाही हूँ, मैं जिला प्रशासन को बताना चाहता हूँ, की मेरे जल्से के बराबर हिन्दुओं क़ो जगह दी तों अच्छा नहीं होगा” मलेरकोटला में @sherryontopp के PS अपनी पत्नी के लिए प्रचार करते हुए. #कांग्रेसीसेक्युलरिज़म @ANI @BJP4India @gssjodhpur @RahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/FmEXgyHRMX
— Shazia Ilmi (मोदी का परिवार) (@shaziailmi) January 21, 2022
But that’s not where Mustafa stopped. He went on to say, “If they again try to do something like this, I swear on Allah I will enter their houses and beat them up. I am not fighting for votes but for my community. I warn the district administration and police that if in future they allow Hindus to hold gatherings next to ours, I will create such an environment that it will be difficult for them to control.”
Meanwhile, BJP’s national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi accused Sidhu’s aide of trying to incite violence in the state and disturbing communal harmony by making provocative speeches ahead of the Punjab assembly polls.
BJP Escalates Congress’ Calls for Violence with Election Commission
Shazia Ilmi also said that an FIR should be lodged against Mohammad Mustafa for trying to disrupt peace in Punjab and issuing open calls for violence. Shazia Ilmi added that the BJP would ask the Election Commission to cancel the ticket of his wife, Razia Sultana.
She said, “Can they rake up communal sentiments and get votes? Not just Mustafa and his wife, but also Congress and Rahul Gandhi and others – why are you bringing in Allah? This is a matter of great shame and shows the hypocrisy of the Congress party which talks of secularism. This is anti-Constitutional and an attempt to scare our Hindu brother.”
Read more: How Dangerous Sidhu really is?
Punjab BJP leader Subhash Sharma said, “Mohammad Mustafa has the same mindset as Sidhu. He hugs Pakistan’s leaders who send drugs and weapons [to India] every day.”
Congress Killing its Fortunes
Congress is facing infighting, factionalism and anti-incumbency in Punjab. Hindus are traditional Congress voters in the state. So, guess who the Congress tried to alienate with Mustafa’s genocidal speech? That’s right – Punjab’s Hindus.
Now, Hindus are motivated to ensure that Congress does not come to power in the state once again. Congress has lost Hindu voters of the state. For a party not doing well among the Jat Sikhs as well, the alienation of Hindu voters is a sure-shot way of ensuring a resounding defeat.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, by raising its voice against the Congress’ apparent hatred for Hindus, is poised to gain ground in the state and consolidate its position among the Hindu voters.
Elections to Punjab’s 117-member Legislative Assembly will be held in a single phase on February 20. The counting of votes for the same is to be held on March 10.