Karimnagar Member of Parliament (MP) and Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Wednesday, May 25, suggested that mosques should be dug up across the state and went on to add that if “shavam (dead bodies)” were found, then Muslims could keep the mosque while if a “shivam (shiva linga)” was found, then it had to be handed over to the Hindus.
“I am challenging (Hyderabad MP Asaduddin) Owaisi, and all other secularists…Let’s dig up mosques in Telangana and see. If we dig up and see that there are dead bodies, then you, Muslims and secularists, can take it, but if there is a shiva linga, then you hand it over to us,” Bandi Sanjay said. He was addressing a huge gathering at a 'Hindu Ekta Yatra' in Karimnagar on the occasion of 'Hanuman Jayanti' in the Telugu states. He further went on to say that, “Even if Karimnagar Eidgah or Vemulawada dargah has to go, Rama Rajyam has to come in Telangana.”
Sanjay Kumar, known for his strong Hindutva views, also said that minority reservations would be abolished if the BJP comes to power in the state and that benefits would be provided to SCs, STs, backward classes and the poor among upper castes. He was referring to the Telangana government’s plan to increase reservations for backward Muslims in education and jobs from 4% to 12%.
He also vowed to work against religious conversions and ‘love jihad’. The 'love jihad' is a bogey term used by right-wing organisations to propagate the theory that Muslim men ‘trap’ and marry Hindu women with malafide intentions. However, the Union government had told the Lok Sabha in 2019 that no “case of ‘love jihad’ had been reported by any of the central agencies”.
"Shall we keep quiet if my sisters are trapped and cheated in the name of 'love jihad'. Hindu society will not tolerate if the poor are made to change their religion. Bandi Sanjay will not tolerate," the MP said in his speech on Wednesday. He also went on to add that madrassas where unlawful activities allegedly happened would be banned in Telangana when his party comes to power in the state.
"We will make sure those who say 'love jihad' get a taste of lathi. We will act tough against those doing religious conversions," he said. Bandi Sanjay referred to The Kashmir Files film and said that ‘Razakar Files' would be brought out soon to “open the eyes of pseudo secularists" on the atrocities committed against Hindu society by the Razakars during the Nizam rule.