Ziaur Rahman Barq is a Samajwadi Party MLA from UP's Kundarki.
Samajwadi Party MLA Ziaur Rahman Barq equated the BJP to British and said one's loyalty towards the country cannot be proven just by waiving the tricolour.
A video of the MLA trading barbs at the BJP during an interaction with press a couple of days ago has surfaced on social media.
"Earlier, the British government used to rule us. Now, it is ruled by those people who have nothing to with the freedom struggle. When India was fighting for Independence and scores of people, including Muslims, were put behind the bars, nobody from the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh) participated in the struggle," the MLA from Kundarki in Moradabad district is heard saying in Hindi in the video.
Mr Barq, who is related to senior SP leader and MLA from Sambhal Shafiqur Rahman Barq, said, "One's loyality towards the nation cannot be proven by waiving the national flag and Muslims of the country don't need any certificate to prove their loyalty towards the country." The tricolour has never been hoisted at the RSS headquarters, he claimed.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)