A day after senior BJP leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh demanded strict action against party’s Rajasthan leader Sandeep Dayma for his hate remarks about mosques and gurdwaras, BJP members have filed a complaint against Mr. Dayma with the Chandigarh police.
BJP members, led by Punjab State Mahila Morcha president Jai Inder Kaur, who is the daughter of Capt. Amarinder, submitted a complaint at Sector 39 Police Station here on Sunday, against Mr. Dayma demanding strict action against him.
In their complaint, the BJP members asked the police to take immediate legal action against Mr. Dayma for his alleged hate remarks, which they said had created an atmosphere of insecurity and hurt the religious sentiments of people.
On Saturday, Capt. Amarinder said, “People like Dayma, who speak mindlessly and make vicious statements should have no place in a party like the BJP,” he said, adding that not only should he be expelled from the party, there must be legal action also.
Recently, Mr. Dayma during an election rally in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Rajasthan’s Tijara legislative Assembly constituency stated that “if the BJP comes to power, mosques and gurudwaras would be uprooted.” This remark led to widespread criticism, following which Mr. Dayma issued an apology. There was a furor when he said in his apology that during the rally what he wanted to say was that ‘masjid (mosques)-madrasas’ would be uprooted, but somehow, he stated ‘gurudwara.
‘Arrogant and perverted mindset’
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal rejecting the apology, stated on X that Mr. Dayma seems to suffer from an ‘arrogant and perverted mindset’ and he did not understand that there was no difference among shrines of different religions, be it a temple, a Gurdwara, a Masjid or any other place of worship.
He said that people like Mr. Dayma who disturbed peace and communal harmony should face case for destroying communal harmony.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) — the body responsible for the management of Gurdwaras — also slammed Mr. Dayma. In a post on X, the SGPC said “In his apology, BJP leader Sandeep Dayma who gave statement of uprooting Gurdwaras and Masjid during his party rally in Tijara, Rajasthan, says, ‘I wanted to say Masjid-Madrasa, but somehow said Gurdwara’. He should be ashamed of this statement too, as speaking against religious places of Muslims is equally condemnable as Gurdwaras.”
