Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath brought up the issue of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in the state assembly today, the third day of its monsoon session. "People are supporting the Taliban. Look at the kind of barbarism being meted out to women there, to children in Afghanistan. Yet some people are shamelessly supporting the Taliban. These people should be exposed before society," the Chief Minister said in his address.
His remarks came a day after a sedition case was filed against a Samajwadi Party MP and two others in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district over remarks that seemed to compare the Taliban to India's freedom fighters.
On Monday, Samajwadi Party leader Shafiqur Rahman Barq -- the Lok Sabha MP from Sambhal -- told reporters that the Taliban "want Afghanistan to be free" and "want to run their own country".
According to news agency Press Trust of India, Mr Barq called Taliban a "force that did not allow Russia or the United States to establish themselves in Afghanistan" and said the group's seizing control of that country was "an internal matter".
"They want to be free. This is their personal matter. How can we interfere?" he was quoted as saying by PTI. According to PTI, he also pointed out that when India was occupied by the British, "the entire country fought for independence".
Mr Barq later denied making the remarks and said his statement was misinterpreted.
The remark was met with fierce criticism from Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who compared it to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's comment after the fall of Kabul.
On Monday, the Pakistan Prime Minister appeared to endorse the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, saying Afghanistan had broken the "shackles of slavery".
"Anything can happen in the Samajwadi Party," Mr Maurya said.
"There are people who cannot sing 'Jana Gana Mana'... someone might support the Taliban, others could level allegations on police after terrorists are caught. This is appeasement," he said outside the Assembly building in Lucknow.
"If this statement has been given (Mr Maurya said he had not personally heard the alleged statement) then there is no difference between that person and Imran Khan," he added.
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