Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday called up his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani over attacks on north Indians, particularly those from Bihar and UP, and demanded security to the people of these two states working as migrant workers there.
“The Gujarat Chief Minister has assured me of all help to the people of Bihar and UP. He said no untoward incident has been reported in the last three days. The Gujarat government has assured security to the people in Gujarat from whatever states they belong to,” Yogi said in a written statement issued here on Monday.
The Chief Minister said that Gujarat was a peaceful state and was a model of progress and those who did not want peace and prosperity were spreading canard against the Gujarat government.
He also appealed to the north Indians staying in Gujarat to have faith on local administration and support them.
Protests erupted in the districts of Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Patan, Sabarkantha and Mehsana after the arrest of Ravindra Sahu, who hails from Bihar, for allegedly raping a 14-month-old girl in Sabarkantha district last week.
Police say that more than a dozen videos targeting people from Bihar and UP have circulated on social media. One such video shows a group of people threatening migrants from Bihar and asking them to leave Gujarat for good.
Following this threat, several migrant workers have reportedly left the state in fear.
The Gujarat police have claimed that over 200 people have been arrested.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Pramod Tiwari has asked why people only from Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states are being asked to leave only Gujarat.
“Is this the Gujarat model which BJP has been advocating,” he asked.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi made Uttar Pradesh his home and when his term is about to end, people of UP are being humiliated. Their houses are being torched and properties damaged,” he said.