AAP praises Lt Guv Najeeb Jung for his ‘courageous’ remark on Bharat Mata slogan row

New Delhi: The AAP, which is often at odds with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, on Tuesday praised him for his “courageous” comments that ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ debate was “manufactured and people cannot be forced to chant it”.

AAP leaders led by Delhi Convener Dilip Pandey, along with party spokespersons Deepak Bajpai and Richa Pandey Mishra, and legislators Amanatullah (Okhla), Manoj Kumar (Kondli), Sanjeev Jha (Burari) and Rajendra Gautam (Seemapuri) today went to meet Jung to “appreciate his public stand against the divisive politics” Pandey said irrespective of party’s differences with the Lieutenant Governor, AAP appreciates “the courage shown by Jung.”

“The BJP and the RSS have unleashed it’s frontal organisations to create an atmosphere of fear and intolerance. In these circumstances, coming out and expressing his dissent against RSS-BJP’s politics of hatred is an act of unparalleled courage, especially for a person holding the office of Lieutenant Governor. It compelled us to appreciate his public stand,” Pandey said.

Bajpai said, “When BJP president Amit Shah is issuing open threats and issuing certificates of patriotism, LG came out and said that every Indian has a right to refuse to bow down under pressure.”

The Lieutenant Governor had said in a television interview that the debate over ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ was “manufactured and no one can be forced to say anything.” Jung said there was a difference between raising slogans hailing the motherland and those praising the almighty, including ‘Allah’.

“People are losing the nuances of the words. Saying ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ is different from worshipping any deity or Allah or god. It’s a matter of pride for a person belonging to any country to love his country and, therefore, would be absolutely happy to say ‘madre-watan zindabad’, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ or whatever,” he said.