Mumbai (Maharashtra), Dec 15 : Lauding the ‘respect’ given to the labour force under the Bharatiya Janata Party government, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for honouring the construction workers who worked at the Ram Mandir in Agra,
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister on Saturday also compared how the workers who built the Ram Temple were honoured and on the other hand hands of workers behind the Taj Mahal were “chopped off”.
He was addressing the annual conference of the World Hindu Economic Forum (WHEF) here in Mumbai.
He also hit out at the Opposition for initiating impeachment notices against Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Allahabad High Court’s Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, saying “whoever speaks the truth” is threatened in this way.
“Whoever speaks the truth, these people will pressurise him with impeachment (motions), and still they talk about the Constitution. Look at their double standards,” the Uttar Pradesh CM said.
“An Allahabad High Court judge said there should be a Uniform Civil Code, and the world over the feelings of the majority community are respected,” he added.
What was a person’s crime if he voices these opinions, he asked.
“Shouldn’t there be a Uniform Civil Code in the country? The world over, the system runs as per what the majority community says and India is saying the discrimination between majority and minority community should end. They (the Congress) will pressurise, because it is their old habit of strangulating the Constitution and managing the system of the country,” CM Adityanath alleged.
As to the notice to impeach Vice-President Dhankhar for his alleged partisan role as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the BJP leader said the Vice-President is doing his duty as presiding officer of the Upper House.
“The Opposition is worried as to how a farmer’s son has reached this position. If someone as a judge as well as a citizen of the country puts forth truth on a social and cultural platform, he is threatened with impeachment,” CM Adityanath added.
Members of several opposition parties on Friday moved a notice in the Rajya Sabha for the impeachment of Allahabad High Court Judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav over his alleged controversial remarks at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad event on December 8.
The Supreme Court has sought details about the controversy from the Allahabad High Court.
“You would have seen how on January 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was giving respect to the workers who constructed the Ram Mandir. That is one side where the PM was raining flowers on them, but on the other hand, the situation before was such that the workers who constructed the Taj Mahal had their hands chopped off,” CM Yogi said in his address on Saturday.
He also mentioned that workers in the fine cloth industry in history also had their hands chopped off, destroying a whole tradition and legacy.
“Today, India respects its labour force and gives them all kinds of protections. On the other hand, there were rulers, who chopped off the hands of labourers and destroyed the legacy of fine cloth, destroyed the tradition completely,” the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said.
Talking about India’s historical contribution to the world’s economy between the first and fifteenth century, CM Yogi Adityanath said, “From the first century to the 15th century, even scholars associated with Europe accept that at that time India’s share in the world economy was more than 40 per cent, and that was the situation continuously till 15th century.”
The ‘World Hindu Economic Forum’ began on December 13 and will conclude on December 15 at the Jio World Convention Centre at BKC in Mumbai.
Speaking further, the Uttar Pradesh CM lauded Prime Minister Modi for bringing India out of the ‘identity crisis’.
“Today, those who are encouraging and nurturing terrorism today…These people claim our heritage when they were nowhere to be seen, even their seeds had not sprouted, even then our heritage was there,” he said.
He added, “Before 2014, India was facing an identity crisis… We are grateful to the respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who in the last 10 years has rescued India from the demonic rigidities and has shown us the vision of a ‘New India’.”
–IANS