North Indians take pride in violating law: Delhi Lt Governor

Even as the controversy over Raj Thackeray's comments on North Indians in Mumbai rages on, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Tejender Khanna added his own bit to it today.

At a function to launch Delhi Police's traffic patrol scheme, he said that people of north and north-west India took pride in violating the law, especially traffic rules.

"In this region, the situation is such that commonly it is a matter of pride to violate the law. The behaviour pattern in South India is such that the people naturally stay within the limits of the law," said Khanna, who had earlier created a controversy over his move to ask all Delhiites to carry identification papers in order to keep track of migration in the city.

He remarked that there was better compliance of law in South India and that too without any external pressure. "It is a specialty of north and north-west India that the people feel a sense of honour and pride in violating law and boasting that no action has been taken against them," said Khanna.

Reactions flew fast and furious with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanding that Khanna be removed from his post.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi also gave an angry response saying that whoever had made "these irresponsible remarks" would have to face the consequences. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's office refused to offer any comment on the issue.

As his remarks came under all-round attack, Khanna's office issued a clarification, saying the media had "seriously distorted the context and content" of his statement.

"The Lt Governor had referred to the comparatively lower level of autonomous self-compliance of traffic regulations, such as maintaining lane discipline, giving right of way and respecting traffic lights in Delhi, as compared to that observed in some metropolitan cities in the South, which is borne out by relevant statistics," a Raj Bhavan statement said.