UP CM Yogi Adityanath: 'A Muslim family safest among 100 Hindu families'

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said a Muslim family would feel safe residing in an area with a hundred Hindu families, but the opposite cannot be said to be true. He gave the example of Bangladesh to say that even fifty Hindus would not feel safe among a hundred Muslims. 

Adityanath, in an ANI podcast, said, “A Muslim family is the safest among a hundred Hindu families. They will have the freedom to practice all their religious deeds. But can 50 Hindus be safe among 100 Muslim families? No. Bangladesh is an example. Before this, Pakistan was an example.” The reference to Bangladesh comes after reports stated that Hindus were attacked in the country after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government last August. Reports had stated that several priests were also arrested, while homes of minorities were looted in the country and temples vandalised.

Speaking about the safety of Muslims in his state, Adityanath said they were the safest in Uttar Pradesh. "Muslims are the safest in Uttar Pradesh...If Hindus are safe, then Muslims are also safe here,” he said. “If there were riots here in UP before 2017, if Hindu shops were burning, Muslim shops were also burning. After 2017, the riots stopped. Now, if Hindus are safe, Muslims are also safe,” he elaborated. 

The UP Chief Minister asserted that Muslims are not in danger, but the vote bank politics of leaders such as Asaduddin Owaisi certainly is. 

“Before 1947, Pakistan and Bangladesh were a part of India. How can we forget the truth? Isn't there a Hinglaj Mata temple in Pakistan? Isn't there a temple of Mata Dhakeshwari in Bangladesh?” he said in the podcast.

Adityanath also spoke about temple-mosque disputes. He said that building mosques on temple sites went against Islamic principles. The CM said that the government would revive as many temples as present in Sambhal, which witnessed massive violence last year following the court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid. 

"There are 64 pilgrimage sites in Sambhal, and we have found 54. Whatever it is, we will find it.  We will tell the world to see what happened in Sambhal,” he said.