Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on 13 November, called secularism “the biggest lie” told to the country since Independence, the Indian Express reported.
He also claimed that the word “Paki” was the biggest insult in Europe. “Distorting history is no lesser crime than sedition,” the UP CM said.
He made the comments at a function organised by Dainik Jagran in Raipur, While responding to a question on secularism and communalism, Adityanath said: “I believe that the word secular is the biggest lie since Independence. Those that have given birth to this lie and those that use it should apologise to the people and this country. No system can be secular. Political system can be sect-neutral. If someone were to say that government has to be run by one way of prayer, that is not possible. In UP, I have to look at 22 crore people and I am answerable for their security and their feelings. But I am not sitting here to ruin one community either. You can be sect-neutral but not secular”.
At another event, the UP Chief Minister blamed the Congress for the ills plaguing the country, and accused the opposition party of "dividing" people and playing appeasement politics.
He said the Sonia Gandhi-led party is responsible for "mismanagement" in the country and that the BJP-led NDA government is working to tackle problems and take the country on the path of development.
Addressing a convention of BJP workers at the Balbir Singh Juneja Indoor Stadium, Adityanath accused the Congress of playing with the sentiments of the people and dividing them on the basis of caste, region and language for its vested interest.
Adityanath said if the grand old party had acted responsibly, the country would not been facing so many problems.
"Our party works without discrimination on the basis of religion, caste and creed. We consider the entire country a family," he added.
Adityanath said construction of a temple devoted to Lord Rama has been completed in Chhattisgarh, which was his 'nanhial' (his mother Kaushlya's maternal home). "Chhattisgarh was Lord Ram's 'nanihal'. I was here in February after the construction of a Ram temple. According to 'manyata' (belief), Lord Ram first settles in his 'nanihal' and then goes to his birthplace (in Ayodhya)."
Adityanath said India's identity is closely associated with Ayodhya.
He said 'Ram Rajya' is considered the best model of good governance in the entire world where there is no fear, discrimination, pain and starvation.
Adityanath praised the prime minister for launching a slew of welfare schemes and said their benefits are reaching the people of the country.
The prime minister has assured houses to every family in the country by 2022, he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
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