"Join Naxals, We'll Shoot You," Union Minister Hansraj Ahir Tells Doctors Absent From Event

Mumbai: Union Minister Hansraj Ahir, apparently furious at the absence of senior doctors at a function he was attending in Maharashtra, has provoked a controversy with his outburst. "If these people don't believe in democracy, they should join Maoists and we will shoot them," fumed the Minister of State for Home Affairs yesterday.

Mr Ahir was speaking at the launch of a 24x7 store for medicines at a government-run hospital in eastern Maharashtra's Chandrapur, which he represents in parliament.

"The mayor came, the deputy mayor came but what stopped the doctors from coming for the event?" demanded the minister, noting that doctors were missing.

The district civil surgeon, Uday Nawade, and dean of the medical college, SS More, were not present at the event organized to mark "Good Governance Day" on former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's birthday.

"What do the Naxals want? They don't want democracy... So these people (the absent doctors) don't want democracy, then they should join the Naxals. Why are you here? Then (once you join the Naxals) we will pump golis (bullets) into you, why you are giving goli (fooling/cheating us) here? I have come here and these people are on leave, what can I say?" said Mr Ahir in Marathi.

He also questioned whether it was appropriate for doctors to go on leave when a "democratically-elected" minister was on a visit.

Chandrapur is one of the four districts in Maharashtra that have been identified by the central government as affected by Maoist violence.