Newly elected East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir of the BJP on Monday termed as "deplorable" the alleged assault on a Muslim man in Gurgaon and asked the authorities to take "exemplary" action in the matter.
His comments on Twitter, however, did not go down well among a few of his partymen in Delhi, who said the words of the cricketer-turned-politician may be used against the BJP by the opposition parties.
A 25-year-old Muslim man was alleged slapped by a group of men in Gurgaon on May 25. The victim was reportedly asked to remove his skullcap and forced to chant Jai Shri Ram.
"In Gurugram Muslim man told to remove skullcap, chant Jai Shri Ram. It is deplorable. Exemplary action needed by Gurugram authorities. We are a secular nation where @Javedakhtarjadu writes O palan-hare, nirgun aur nyare, & @RakeyshOmMehra gave us d song Arziyan in Delhi 6," Gambhir tweeted.
However, a section of Delhi BJP leaders expressed their reservations over the tweet and said Gambhir's words may be used against the saffron party. "Gambhir is no longer a cricketer and he should realise this that his words and 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.
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," Gambhir said in another tweet.
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Gambhir, who joined the BJP before the recent Lok Sabha polls, contested from East Delhi seat and defeated Congress's Arvinder Singh Lovely by 3.91 lakh votes.
The Muslim man, identified as Mohamad Baker Alam, alleged in his complaint to the police that four unidentified youths accosted him in a lane in Sadar Bazar area of the city and objected to his wearing the skullcap.
"They removed my cap and slapped me, while asking me to chant Bharat Mata ki Jai. As I followed their instruction and chanted Bharat Mata ki Jai, they asked me to chant Jai Sri Ram, which I refused. At this, the youths picked up stick and began mercilessly beating me," he said in his complaint.