The controversy over Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's "UP, Bihar de bhaiya" comment was reflective of an unfortunate systemic and institutionalised social bias against migrants stretching back to the inception of the Green Revolution, Congress leader Manish Tewari said on Friday, comparing the issue to the racial tension in US between African Americans and people of European descent.
The "Bhaiya controversy" had flared after the Mr Channi made a controversial remark asking the people of the state not to let the "bhaiyas" of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar rule the state, in an apparent response to
Taking to Twitter, the Congress MP said, "De-Horse Politics- The Bhaiya controversy is like the Black issue in the US. It is reflective of an unfortunate systemic and institutionalised social bias against migrants stretching back to the inception of the Green Revolution."
"At a personal level, despite my mother being a Jat Sikh and my father being the foremost exponent of Punjab - Punjabi - Punjabiyat who laid down his life for Hindu-Sikh amity because of my sir name it is said behind my back 'Eh Bhaiya Kithon Agha' peppered with the choicest expletives in Punjabi - We have to root it out. Such thinking should have no place in the Secular ethos of Punjab grounded in the idiom - Manas Ki Jaat Sabhe Ek Pechan," he added.
Mr Channi on Thursday clarified his 'UP-Bihar de bhaiya' remark, saying that his statement was being misconstrued.
"My statement is being misconstrued. All migrant workers who came to Punjab till date, have toiled and taken it on the path to development. We have only love for them, nobody can change it," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hit out at the Congress over Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's 'UP, Bihar de bhaiya' remark and said that the party always pits people of one region against another. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also slammed his Punjab counterpart.
On Wednesday, Charanjit Singh Channi, addressing a roadshow with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi by his side had said, "Priyanka Gandhi is the daughter-in-law of Punjab. Will not let the 'Uttar Pradesh, Bihar de bhaiye', who have come here to rule, enter the state.
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