Newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) from East Delhi was at the centre of a political storm after he posted a tweet on Monday to denounce the Gurugram incident in which a Muslim youth was allegedly forced to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ by anti-social elements. The youth was also forced to remove his skull cap. Gambhir has asked the authorities to take exemplary action in the matter.
However, leaders in Delhi BJP kept disassociated themselves from the remarks of the cricketer turned politician.
Gambhir on Monday tweeted, “In Gurugram Muslim man told to remove skull cap,chant Jai Shri Ram”. It is deplorable. Exemplary action needed by Gurugram authorities. We are a secular nation where @Javedakhtarjadu writes “ Oh palan hare, Nirgun or nayare’& @RakeyshOmMehra gave us d song “Arjiyan” in Delhi 6. Gambhir’s tweet was trolled and BJP leaders were questioned by the tweeples.
Expressing views on cricketer turned politician, BJP leader said, “Gambhir is politician now and he should use his words very carefully since his actions will be seen through the prism of politics.” “Nobody likes such incidents but what is the use of commenting on an incident in Haryana which may be used against the BJP by other parties,” said a senior Delhi BJP leader.
A 25-year-old Muslim man was alleged slapped by a group of men in Gurugram on May 25. The victim was reportedly asked to remove his skull cap and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. “ he is no longer a cricketer and he should realise this that his words and actions will be seen through the prism of politics. “
However, Gambhir said his secularism emanated from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s philosophy of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ and added that any oppression based on caste or religion is deplorable.
“My thoughts on secularism emanate from honourable PM Mr Modi’s mantra “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”.. I am not limiting myself to Gurugram incident alone, any oppression based on caste/religion is deplorable. Tolerance & inclusive growth is what the idea of India is based on,” he said in another tweet.
Gambhir had recently joined politics and contested from East Delhi seat on BJP ticket and defeated Congress’s Arvinder Singh Lovely by 3.91 lakh votes and AAP’s Atishi.