 "All 'anti-nationals' can go and live in Pakistan: O P Sharma")
BJP MLA O P Sharma, who was yesterday seen thrashing Communist Party of India (CPI) minority wing leader Ameeq Jamei outside a Delhi court, stirred a fresh controversy on Tuesday and said that all those who have no respect for the nation and are 'anti-national' can go and live in Pakistan.
"Since the past few days, there have been objections to the actions that are being taken in the case. We need to draw a line right now about how to deal with the people, who are expressing support towards terrorists and anti-national elements. On one side our soldiers are dying and then we have traitors supporting the terrorists. They should go and live in Pakistan. They can't stay here and abuse India at the same time," Sharma told ANI here.
Defending his actions, he added that he was attacked first and it was only after that he replied in kind.
Sharma asserted that the man was chanting 'Pakistan zindabad and Hindustan murdabad' following which a scuffle broke and he was injured on the head.
"I told them repeatedly to refrain from chanting such slogans but despite that they refused to do so and a scuffle broke out where I was hit on the head first. When the man ran after hitting me, the public also joined me and certain things unfolded which you must have seen by now," Sharma said.
Remaining unapologetic about what he did, Sharma further said that he hit the man only after he raised his hand first.
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"I can't thrash 70 people at once. I had no idea about the intent of these people. But when they started making anti-national statements in front of me, I could not tolerate that. When someone hits me, I will do what comes naturally to me. You can't expect a person to stand down when he is being attacked," he added.
The BJP MLA had yesterday told ANI that anyone heard shouting Pro-Pakistan slogans 'will be attacked'.
Meanwhile, Jamei told ANI that his party does not need a certificate of nationalism from the BJP or RSS.
Jamei said the incident took place when Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was present in the court for the hearing in a defamation case.
"The entire incident took place when Arun Jaitley was present. We were briefing the media about the attack on journalists and students in the court. We were questioning Jaitley's silence when O P Sharma, who is known for attacking people, chased me and pushed me to the ground," said Jamei.
Around 12 persons, including JNU students, teachers and journalists were attacked by a group of men in lawyer's robes inside and outside the Patiala House court yesterday, where the sedition case against JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar was to be heard.