AURAIYA/LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday targeted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over his Jinnah remark, saying that someone who is "cultureless" cannot be expected to know the difference between a national hero and a traitor.
He was attacking Yadav for his remarks in which he appeared to have equated Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Without naming the SP chief directly, Adityanath said a leader of a party had recently spoke of Sardar Patel and Jinnah in the same breath as leaders who fought for India's independence.
During a public meeting in Hardoi on October 31, Yadav had put together names of Mahatma Gandhi and other freedom fighters with Jinnah's.
"Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Jinnah studied in the same institute and became barristers. They helped (India) get freedom and never backed away from any struggle," he had said.
During a programme launching online transfer of money in the accounts of parents of 1.80 crore students studying under Basic Shiksha Parishad at his official residence in Lucknow, Adityanath said, "Remember, if education is incomplete, culture is lacking, etiquette is lost, then you cannot expect that person to feel the difference between a national hero and a traitor."
"If such a situation arises today, then it may also be a reason for the lack of interest of the child's parents in their education. And, so all this needed to be told in the morning assembly," he said.
"Often this disorientation starts only when the person does not know who is the friend of the country and who is the enemy of the country. When we start weighing the national hero and the anti-national in the same scale, then naturally it raises a question mark on the person's ability," the chief minister said.
In Auraiya, earlier in the day, Adityanath warned people against political parties which equate Sardar Patel with Jinnah.
Referring to his government's achievements in the field of basic education, he said when his government was formed in 2017, the condition of basic education was very bad, but today it is better and a lot of improvement has taken place.
"Today, the attitude about the Basic Education Council has changed.
When the School Chalo campaign was launched in July 2017, there were 1 crore 30 lakh children in the council schools, but the number of children increased by 50 lakh in three years.
Today, the Basic Education Council's schools look different, their colours, different furnishings and the uniforms of the children studying are visible," he said.
The chief minister also called for promoting technology and said that transfer of money online into the accounts of parents will help avoid charges of corruption in the education department.
At the foundation stone laying of a government medical college in Auraiya and inaugurating other projects, Adityanath said, "A leader of a party had a few days back in a speech attempted to equate Sardar Vallabhbai Patel, the man who symbolised the unity of India, with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who divided the country.
The entire state should reject such shameful and condemnable remarks."
"Sardar Patel, who symbolised India's integrity, united over 563 kingdoms with India (at the time of Independence). We have to understand the mindset of the elements, who are trying to equate Sardar Patel with Jinnah. Sardar Patel united the country, while Jinnah divided the country, both cannot be contemporaries ('samkaksh'). Sardar Patel was a 'rashtranayak' (national hero), but Jinnah was the one to break the unity of India. We have to remain alert of people who are trying to equate them," he said.
Speaking on the law and order front, Adityanath said that the image of the state is changing.
"Earlier, professional criminals and mafia had made the lives of the poor, traders and women miserable. Earlier, there was a race to embrace the mafia elements, and derive political mileage. But, today everybody knows that bulldozers are running over the mafia, and it can also run over those who give refuge to the mafia," he said.
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister added that every person knows that there is zero tolerance towards criminals.
Meanwhile, The Samajwadi Party chief on Saturday sought to defend his widely criticised statement equating Jinnah with Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru and saying they helped India get freedom even as an UP minister suggested a narco test for him for "glorifying" the Pakistani leader.
As the row over the Samajwadi Party(SP) leader's comments raged, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, without naming Yadav, described the remarks as "shameful and condemnable" and warned people against political parties which equate Sardar Patel with Jinnah.
His ministerial colleague Anand Swaroop Shukla also said those heaping praises on Jinnah should go to Pakistan.
Yadav on his part hit out at his detractors, asking them to read history books again.
Asked by reporters in Lucknow about his response to the row over his remarks that had kicked up a controversy ahead of the Assembly elections in UP, the former chief minister shot back, "Why should I say the context? I would say read the books again."
Yadav's counter-attack drew a sharp response from UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh, who in a Hindi tweet said, "The love for Jinnah still remains intact. Akhilesh Yadav ji please tell which history books have to be read -- the Indian or the Pakistani."
On October 31, Yadav had said, "Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah studied in the same institute and became barristers. They helped (India) get freedom and never backed away from any struggle."
Minister Shukla told reporters in Ballia that Jinnah is responsible for the division of the country.
"Jinnah is a villain, who no Indian would like to see or listen to. Akhilesh Yadav must clarify as to under which pressure, greed, is he glorifying Jinnah?"
"I want Akhilesh Yadav to himself come forward, and get his narco test done," he said.
A narco test involves the injection of a drug, sodium pentothal, which induces a hypnotic or sedated state in which the subject's imagination is neutralised, and they are expected to divulge true information.
Shukla further said that those raising 'zindabad' slogans in praise of Jinnah, having thoughts and feelings of Jinnah in their mind, have no place in India.
"They themselves should go to Pakistan," the BJP leader added.
Speaking at a public event in Auraiya, Adityanath, without naming Yadav, said a leader of a party had a few days back in a speech attempted to equate Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the man who symbolised the unity of India, with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who divided the country.
The chief minister said the entire state should reject such "shameful and condemnable" remarks.
"Sardar Patel, who symbolised India's integrity, united over 563 kingdoms with India (at the time of Independence). We have to understand the mindset of the elements, who are trying to equate Sardar Patel with Jinnah. Sardar Patel united the country, while Jinnah divided the country, both cannot be contemporaries ('samkaksh')."
"Sardar Patel was a 'rashtranayak' (national hero), but Jinnah was the one to break the unity of India. We have to be alert of people who are trying to equate them," Adityanath said.
The SP also demanded the sacking of Shukla for accusing Yadav of getting economic support from Pakistan's spy agency ISI.
Shukla on Tuesday had said that Chief Minister Adityanath has become a challenge for the Islamic world.
"Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is getting all support from them. Akhilesh is getting 'sanrakshan aur sujhav' (patronage and advice) from the ISI. It is possible that he might also be getting economic support from it."
On Friday, SP workers staged a protest at the District Collectorate building to demand the registration of a case against the minister.
The opposition party has demanded that a case be registered against Shukla for making insulting remarks against the party chief, and spreading animosity in the society.
SP's Ballia district unit chief Raj Mangal Yadav, meanwhile, said there will be intense protests against the minister and that he will not be allowed to enter the district if the administration doesn't take action against him.