If Muslims have 'first right' on resources, where will Jats and Gujjars go: Yogi

Questioning a statement years back by then prime minister Manmohan Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Wednesday said if Muslims have the first right over the country's resources what happens to the Scheduled Castes, Jats and Gujjars.

Adityanath recalled Singh's 2006 statement at a rally here in western Uttar Pradesh, a region where, some estimates say, about 25 per cent of the voters are Gujjars and Jats.

"Former prime minister Manmohan Singh had said that the first right over the resources of the country is of Muslims. If Muslims have the first right, where will the Scheduled Castes, Jats, Gujjars and other people go," Adityanath said.

Singh had made the remark while addressing a meeting of the National Development Council.

"We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably the fruits of development. These must have the first claim on resources," Singh had said.

Adityanath also likened India's February 26 airstrikes at a Balakot terror camp in Pakistan to that of mythical 'Lanka dahan' by Lord Hanuman
Hailing the people of the region for their participation in freedom movement, the UP chief minister said, "This is the land of revolution. The brave people of this land have contributed to the first freedom struggle of 1857."
"Their maniesto also promises to dilute the punishment awarded to people who shout anti-India slogans or talk about dividing the country."