Kapil Dev Agarwal was asked why he skipped the families of the two Muslim men in Bijnor
Highlights
- Kapil Dev Agarwal refused to meet the families of two Muslim men who died
- The minister said he didn't visit their houses because they were rioters
- Twenty-one people have died across the state in Citizenship Act clashes
Uttar Pradesh minister Kapil Dev Agarwal, who was visiting Bijnor district to meet with those affected by last Friday's violence during protests against the citizenship law, has stirred controversy after he refused to meet with the families of the two Muslim men who died in the violence.
Mr Agarwal went to meet with Om Raj Saini, who was injured in the violence that took place in the district's Nehtaur, and his family. The two deaths also happened in the same area in the western Uttar Pradesh town.
At a press conference in Bijnor after his meeting with Mr Saini and his family, Mr Agarwal was asked why he skipped the families of the two Muslim men.
"The government says 'sabka saath, sabka vikas (Together, development for all)'. In Nehtaur, you went to the home of Om Raj Saini. Priyanka Gandhi also visited his family, but then she also went to the other two families where people have died, one from a police bullet. How will 'sabka saath sabka vikaas' happen like this?" a reporter asked the minister.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi met the families of those died in the violence in Bijnor.
But the minister refused to accept any allegations of discrimination, saying, "Why should I go to the homes of rioters. Listen to me. Those who are rioting and want to inflame passions, how are they part of society. Why should I go there? This is not about Hindu-Muslim. Why should I go to rioters?"
Om Raj's family maintains he was not part of any mob and that he was returning from the fields when he was shot at, allegedly with an illegal weapon of a rioter.
There have been violent protests in several parts of the country against the amended Citizenship Act, the first-ever law to make religion a criteria for citizenship.
Twenty-one people have died across Uttar Pradesh, many of them from bullet injuries, in violence during the protests.
The men who died in Bijnor during Friday's violence are 20-year-old Suleman, an IAS aspirant and 25-year-old Anas. After initial denials, the local police admitted to NDTV that Suleman died from a police bullet and that he was among the alleged rioters who opened fire at a cop from a country-made gun and that he was shot at in self defence.
Suleman's family denies this and says he had nothing to do with the protests.
The government says the law will help non-Muslims from Muslim-dominated Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan become Indian citizens if they fled religious persecution in their country and entered India before 2015. Activists, students, opposition parties and other protesters say the law discriminates against Muslims and is against the secular tenets of the constitution.