'If Hindus are safe, Muslims are also safe in Uttar Pradesh': CM Yogi Adityanath

'A Muslim family living among 100 Hindu families is safe. But let alone one, even if 50 Hindu families live among 100 Muslim families, can they be safe? No,' CM Yogi said.

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said that Muslims were the ‘safest’ in the state stating the state had not witnessed a single communal riot since he assumed power in 2017.

In an interview with a private news agency, Adityanath called former Congress president and leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi a ‘namuna’ (specimen), who benefitted the BJP.

He also said, in reply to a question on the Shree Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura, that he was following the court order else a ‘’lot could have happened’’ there.

‘’If the Hindus are safe then Muslims will also be safe......a Muslim family will feel safe among 100 Hindu families but can even 50 Hindu families safe among 100 Muslim families?....No,’’ he said referring to the situation in Bangladesh.

Adityanath said that no communal riots had taken place in UP since he assumed power in 2017. ‘’If Hindus shops and houses were burning then Muslims shops and houses were also burning,’’ he added.

In reply to a question he said that he was following the orders of the court on the Shree Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura otherwise a ‘lot could have happened there’.

Adityanath also appeared to support the claims of the Hindus that the Jama Masjid in Sambhal was built after demolishing a Hindu temple. ‘’Islam says that a mosque can’t be built by demolishing a temple,’’ he said.

The chief minister mocked Rahul and called him a ‘namuna’. ‘’Such namuna should be there....they benefit the BJP,’’ he said. He also termed Rahul’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ as ‘Bharat Todo Yatra’.

UP Congress president Ajay Rai reacted sharply to Adityanath’s jibe at Rahul and said that the CM was himself a ‘namuna’.