Protests should not be violent: Mayawati

BSP supremo Mayawati on Wednesday accused the BJP of weakening the Constitution through its communal approach but cautioned against any protests that are violent.

"The New Year should not be painful like last year. Due to the communal and narrow thought process of the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state, the Constitution was weakened in 2019," she said, adding that the year ended on a violent note, which is extremely worrying and unfortunate.

"The manner of protests should be as such that it should neither hurt feelings of people of any religion nor disturb the atmosphere of amity prevailing in the country," she said in a statement issued here.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also said persons holding responsible positions should not forget that India is a secular country, where people follow different religions.

"They have their style of living and culture. We should give respect to the culture of religions," she said.