New Delhi: Two women MPs of the United Kingdom took a dig at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday, under the pretext of his visit to a JCB factory during his visit to India earlier this month.
The criticism came as Johnson’s visit to the vehicle factory was held days after several properties in some states in India were demolished by the excavator machines prior to certain instances of communal clashes.
Irated over Johnson’s visit to the factory, the MPs further questioned if he (Boris Johnson) raised the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
For the not known, the razing of homes and shops of riots accused in the BJP ruling states has garnered constant raging from a section of people, while hailed by others.
The BJP-led state governments have emphasized that the demolitions were conducted only with an intention of eliminating the illegal encroachment, while the opposition and certain groups have accused them of targeting the Muslim community.
Labour Party’s MP for Nottingham East, Nadia Whittome while speaking in the UK’s House of Commons claimed that Johnson’s recent to the JCB factory JCB factory has eventually
Speaking in the UK’s House of Commons, Labour MP for Nottingham East, Nadia Whittome, questioned if Prime Minister Johnson’s recent visit to India has “aided in legitimizing the demolitions carried out by the BJP-led administrations in various states”.
The BJP (Modi’s governing party) is using JCB diggers to bulldoze the homes and shops of Muslims.
Boris Johnson posed with JCB diggers on his recent visit to India, but his minister wouldn’t say whether he even raised these demolitions with Modi. pic.twitter.com/aIWVw5TLIl
— Nadia Whittome MP (@NadiaWhittomeMP) April 28, 2022
Whittome pointed out a photo of Johnson with a JCB vehicle near Vadodara, after BJP-led civic body North Delhi Municipal Corporation carried out a demolition drive in Jahangirpuri.
“We know that during the Prime Minister’s visit, he was photographed leaning out of a digger in a JCB factory. Just days before the BJP used JCB bulldozers to bulldoze Muslim shops and homes and the gate of a mosque in New Delhi,” Ms Whittome said.
“Did the Prime Minister raise this with (Prime Minister) Modi. If not, why not? And does the Minister accept that the Prime Minister’s visit to India has helped legitimise the actions of Modi’s far-right government?”, she added.
Another MP from Coventry South, Zarah Sultana raised similar concerns saying that Johnson’s visit to JCB factory shows “how much he really cares about human rights”.
Boris Johnson failed to challenge Modi on the BJP whipping-up anti-Muslim violence during his trip to India.
Instead he visited a JCB factory the day after the company’s bulldozers demolished Muslim homes in Delhi.
That shows you how much he really cares about human rights. pic.twitter.com/WMlsZYm8Lp
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) April 26, 2022
“Boris Johnson failed to challenge Modi on the BJP whipping-up anti-Muslim violence during his trip to India. Instead he visited a JCB factory the day after the company’s bulldozers demolished Muslim homes in Delhi”, tweeted Sultana whose family migrated to UK from POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) before she was born.
