New Delhi, 28 Jan. 20

The dangerous hate speeches by Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP MP Pravesh Varma and BJP Minister Anurag Thakur are attempts to stoke communal hatred and violence against Muslim minorities towards the Delhi Assembly elections.

Amit Shah asked voters to press the EVM button with such rage that its "current" should electrocute the Shaheen Bagh protestors. Anurag Thakur described Opposition leaders as "traitors" and asked people to shoot them dead. Pravesh Varma said Delhi voters should beware Shaheen Bagh, since Muslims will rise up from there to enter homes and rape and kill people.

Varma's speech is reminiscent of Amit Shah's 2014 election speeches in Western UP which described Muslims as "the community that violates the honour of our mothers and daughters". Ironically, it is women who are at the forefront of the Shaheen Baghs all over India! BJP claims to save Muslim women from instant triple talaq, and Hindu women from "love jehad". Now, Hindu and Muslim women are united in leading the countrywide resistance to BJP's divisive and destructive politics.

The whole of Delhi has seen how the BJP backed ABVP goons beat up students and teachers in JNU - and yet not a single one of these violent thugs has been arrested by Delhi Police till now! Instead the BJP which controls the Home Ministry and Delhi Police is busy trying to communalise the pro democracy movements at Shaheen Bagh.

BJP's hate speech proves that they have nothing but hate, division, and violence to offer Delhi voters, even after five full years of Modi rule. All talk of good governance and acche din is now proved to be a lie that the BJP wants us to forget.

CPIML appeals to Delhi voters and people all over India to firmly rebuff the anti poor, anti people, anti Muslim politics of the BJP. The Election Commission must take swift notice of these hate speeches and debar such leaders from campaigning and contesting elections and file criminal cases against each of them.

- CPIML Central Committee