By Waquar Hasan
NEW DELHI – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Rameshwar Sharma has extended his support to a controversial campaign launched by Hindutva groups indirectly calling for an economic boycott of Muslims and other minority communities during the Diwali festival.
Recently, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal put up posters and hoardings in public places across Bhopal, urging people to conduct business only with members of their own community. The posters read:
“Apna tyohar, apno se vyavahar; Diwali ki kharidi unse karen, jo aapki kharidi se Diwali mana sake”
(“Our festival, business with our own people. Do your Diwali shopping from those who will celebrate Diwali with the proceeds of your shopping.”)
Supporting this campaign, titled ‘Apna Tyohar, Apno Se Vyavahar’ (Do business with our own people on our festival), Sharma made inflammatory remarks suggesting that Muslims sell food items after spitting in them — a baseless claim widely circulated by Hindutva groups on social media.
Sharma said: “If they want to spit in the food, no one will buy their commodity. If you do business with purified commodities, common people will deal with you. If you spit in your commodities, no one will do business with you.”
There is no evidence to support the claim that Muslims or members of other minority communities engage in such acts. A few videos circulated online had shown individuals allegedly spitting in food, but fact-checkers later revealed that these videos involved people from both Hindu and Muslim communities, debunking the communal narrative.
Criticizing Congress leaders for opposing the campaign, Sharma made another controversial statement: “We are not going to stop them after holding their hands. We are only talking about the purification of commodities on the occasion of the festival when various Gods are prayed. Therefore, we are appealing to do business in purified manners. We are not stopping Congressi. They can eat any item mixed with spitting.”
Reacting to the campaign, Congress leader PC Sharma said that India’s strength lies in its communal harmony and unity among different religious groups.
“People from all communities are our own since the ages of Adam. From the time of our independence movement, the slogan has been ‘Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Christian are brothers.’ Are the saffron organisations against this? Festivals are meant for the growth of communal harmony,” he said.
He further added: “These people are working against RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. The RSS chief says all people are our own from the days of Adam, and if this philosophy is hurt, then matters will not remain positive for a long time.”
Congress spokesperson Abhinav Barolia also condemned the campaign, emphasizing that Diwali is a festival celebrated by everyone together across the country.
This story was originally published in thehindustangazette.com. Read the full story here.