A video has surfaced in which the former Punjab DG Police Mohammad Mustafa, who is also the principal strategic adviser to Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, is heard blatantly threatening Hindus of dire repercussions if they dare to hold their events near his event during a public meeting on January 20, Thursday.
Sharing the purported video, BJP’s national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi accused Sidhu’s aide of trying to incite violence and disturb communal harmony by giving provocative statements ahead of the Punjab assembly polls.
“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 (@shaziailmi) January 21, 2022
The video of the hate speech was first shared by Chiranshu Rattan, the spokesperson of the BJP Punjab youth wing. Soon it started doing rounds on social media. Ilmi captioned the video with a section of the Congress leader’s inflammatory statement made during an event held in the Baghwala Mohalla in Malerkotla district late on Thursday evening.
She Tweeted in Hindi which roughly translated to: “Swear to Allah, I am a soldier of my community, I want to tell the district administration, that it will not be good if Hindus are given a place next to my” PS of Malerkotla @sherryontopp while campaigning for his wife.”
‘I swear on Allah I will enter their houses and beat them up’, Punjab Congress leader blatantly threatens Hindus
In the video, Congress’ Mohammad Mustafa is heard threatening of creating a situation that cannot be controlled if Hindus were allowed to hold events near his event. Amidst loud cheers and claps, the Congress leader said: “Allah ki kasam kha ke kheta hoon inka koi jalsa nahi hone denge. Main quami fauji hoon, main quami sipahi hoon, mein RSS ka agent nahi hoon jo dar ke ghar mein ghus jaonga (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.)
He added: “Agar dobara inhone aaisi harkat ki, khuda ki kasam inke ghar mein ghus kar marunga. Aaj mein sirf warning de raha hoon. Mein voto ke liye nahi lad raha…mein kaum ke liye lad raha hoon. Main zila police aur zila prashasan ko bhi batana chahata hoon…agar dobara aisi harkat hui…mere jalse ke barabar mein agar Hinduon ko ijaazat di gayi, toh mein aaise halat paida kar doonga ke sambhalne mushkil jo jayega” (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.)
What transpired
The former Punjab DG Police Mohammad Mustafa’s hate speech came in the wake of a verbal spat between supporters of Congress candidate Razia Sultana and AAP candidate Jamil-ur-Rehman. Tension started when stages of AAP and Congress were set up in the same lane within 20-25 feet in Baghwala Mohalla, which is near Sirhindi Gate and both programmes were scheduled to be held simultaneously on January 20 (Thursday) evening.
Reportedly the AAP workers raised slogans against police and even Navjot Singh Sidhu’s aide Mohd Mustafa.
Speaking about the incident Waseem Sheikh, the secretary of Muslim Sikh federation Punjab said: “DJ of Congress was causing disturbance to AAP’s function and speakers of AAP were also not audible. AAP supporters raised slogans from their venue and didn’t go near Congress’s stage.” When the tensions between the Congress and the AAP erupted, Waseem Sheikh was present at the venue.
BJP’s national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi asks EC to take cognisance of the Punjab Congress leader’s hateful speech
Responding to the same, BJP’s national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi said: “Our team and Chiranshu got video and it was a speech given by Mustafa while campaigning during the election in Malerkotla, which is a Muslim-dominated area. This is a hate speech and he is trying to incite violence and disturb communal harmony by giving such provocative statements ahead of the Punjab election.”
“The Election Commission should take cognisance of this video and should not allow Razia, who is an MLA from Malerkotla, to contest the election,” Ilmi added.
Who is Mohammad Mustafa
Notably, Mohammad Mustafa is the husband of Razia Sultana, the Congress candidate representing the Malerkotla constituency in the Punjab Legislative Assembly. He is also the former Punjab DG Police, In August last year, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had appointed former IPS officer Mohammad Mustafa as his principal strategic adviser.
The development followed a day after Mustafa, the husband of Punjab Cabinet Minister Razia Sultana, had turned down Sidhu’s invitation to designate him as one of his four advisers.
“Mohd Mustafa is hereby appointed as the principal strategic advisor to the PPCC president, the undersigned, Navjot Singh Sidhu with immediate effect,” a statement issued by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee said.
“He would act as a PCC coordinator with the AICC on issues pertaining to his domain and any other matters that the president may deem fit,” it added.
“Love to be associated with Razia Ji and Mustafa sahib,” Sidhu said in a tweet.
Malerkotla is an assembly constituency in Punjab. The Muslim-dominated district has 3.24 lakh voters. In 2017, this constituency was won by Razia Sultana of the Indian National Congress. She had defeated Mohammad Owais from Shiromani Akali Dal with a margin of 12702 votes.
The 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections will be held in Punjab in a single phase on 20 February 2022 to elect the 117 members of the 16th Assembly of the Punjab Legislative Assembly and the results will be announced on March 10.
