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- Published: January 24, 2020 09:11
BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya said on Thursday that he suspected that there were some Bangladeshis among construction labourers who worked at his house recently.
Their “strange” eating habits aroused suspicion about their nationality, the BJP general secretary said at a seminar in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) here.
When a new room was being added at his house recently, he found “eating habits” of some of the workers “strange” as “they were eating only ‘poha’ (flattened rice)”, he said.
Vijayvargiya’s comments that sparked uproar
BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya says some of the labourers carrying out construction work at his house recently were likely to be Bangladeshis as they had “strange” eating habits and were consuming only ‘poha’ (flattened rice)
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 23, 2020
After talking to their supervisor and the building contractor, he suspected that these workers were from Bangladesh, the BJP leader said.
When reporters questioned him later, Vijayvargiya said, “I suspected these workers were residents of Bangladesh. Two days after I became suspicious, they stopped working at my house.
“I have not filed any police complaint yet. I only mentioned this incident to warn people,” he said.
Speaking at the seminar, Vijayvargiya also claimed that a Bangladeshi terrorist was keeping a watch on him for the last one and a half years.
“Whenever I go out, six armed security personnel follow me. What is happening in this country? Will outside people enter and spread so much terror?” he asked.
“Don’t get confused by rumours. The CAA is in the interest of the country. This law will provide asylum to genuine refugees and identify intruders who are a threat to the country’s internal security,” he said.
Twitter fumes over Vijayvargiya’s strange claim
The statement garnered a lot of traction online, with many strongly reacting to claim of ‘strange food habit’.
If eating Poha , gets you a tag of being from Bangladesh as per Ch. Kailash Vijayvargiya then almost every guy from our Maharashtra does belong from Bangladesh whose morning doesn’t start without Poha and Chai .. pic.twitter.com/q2FLBepPZp
— Niraj Bhatia (@bhatia_niraj23) January 24, 2020
If eating poha is a proof of being Bangladeshi, then half of India, including my family, is Bangladeshi! https://t.co/VmspQnpYbW
— nikhil wagle (@waglenikhil) January 24, 2020
First Beef eaters were anti- nationals.
Now Poha eaters are anti- nationals.
At this rate everyone other dish other than Khichdi and Rajma Chawal will be under the scanner. https://t.co/zLrAwtZMcn
— Advaid (@Advaidism) January 24, 2020
Gotta be really dumb to see poha eating ppl and even remotely think that they could be Bengalis?
— Samarpita Sharma ?? (@BookLuster) January 24, 2020
Learnt 2 things about food in the last few days:
1. Halwa is auspicious.
2. Poha is suspicious.— PuNsTeR™ (@Pun_Starr) January 24, 2020