On Thursday, pro-Pakistan slogans were allegedly raised by Samajwadi Party workers during a party rally organised in Agra.
According to the reports, the Samajwadi Party had organised state-wide protests against rising fuel prices and the alleged large scale “fraud” in the recently concluded Panchayat elections in the state.
A video has gone viral in which people present at the Samajwadi Party’s rally were heard raising ‘Pakistan Zindabad slogans. The slogans were raised when Samajwadi Party cadres were returning after the protests against the BJP government.
In the video, a man in a red shirt can be heard raising “Pakistan zindabad” slogans. SP’s Agra district president Wajid Nisar was also present at the rally during the incident.
#MasterStroke | #BreakingNews: आगरा में पाकिस्तान जिंदाबाद के नारे लगाए गए, समाजवादी पार्टी के प्रदर्शन के दौरान नारेबाजी
— ABP News (@ABPNews) July 15, 2021
देखिए, ‘मास्टर स्ट्रोक’ @RubikaLiyaquat के साथ LIVE
LIVE TV: https://t.co/ftwApTaMqX pic.twitter.com/J9sv9XlGPl
As the video of the incident viral, Nisar admitted that pro-Pakistan slogans were raised during the rally. However, he claimed that some outsiders had raised such objectionable slogans to malign the party’s image. The Samajwadi Party leader also claimed that he has filed a written complaint with the police and urged strict legal action against the accused.
Reportedly, a person named Pankaj Singh is being accused of raising slogans. However, Singh has denied the charge and said that he only raised slogans in support of Mulayam Singh, Akhilesh Yadav and the Samajwadi Party.
“I am a Thakur. Why would I raise Pakistan Zindabad slogans?” Singh asked.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh police have taken cognizance of the incident and have initiated a probe.
BJP, Hindu organisations slam Samajwadi Party for pro-Pakistan slogans
Following the incident, BJP and various Hindu organisations attacked the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, asking whether Samajwadi Party was operating from Pakistan.
“Today in Agra, slogans of Pakistan Zindabad were raised in a rally against the BJP under the leadership of Samajwadi Party city president Wajid Nisar. Is Samajwadi Party operating from Pakistan?” the saffron party said in a tweet.
आज आगरा में समाजवादी पार्टी के शहर अध्यक्ष वाजिद निसार के नेतृत्व में भाजपा के खिलाफ निकाली गई रैली में पाकिस्तान जिंदाबाद के नारे लगाए गए।
— BJP Uttar Pradesh (@BJP4UP) July 15, 2021
क्या समाजवादी पार्टी पाकिस्तान से संचालित हो रही है? pic.twitter.com/SBiecYZEnT
Hindu Jagran Manch has also condemned the incident, accusing Samajwadi Party of carrying out activities against the country’s interest. The Hindu activist group will be protesting on Friday, demanding sedition charges against the Samajwadi Party leaders for raising such anti-India slogans.
Interestingly, the raising of pro-Pakistan slogans by Samajwadi Party workers comes just days after former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had courted a controversy by speaking against the state police’ action against Al Qaeda suspects.
Reacting to the arrests of two Al-Qaeda terror suspects from Kakori, the SP supremo had said, “I can’t trust the actions of the Uttar Pradesh police and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state.”
