SP's Kairana MLA calls for boycott of BJP shopkeepers

Nahid Hasan courted controversy after a video went viral on social media

kairana-mla

Samajwadi Party MLA from Kairana Nahid Hasan has courted controversy after he allegedly urged people of his constituency to boycott the shopkeepers who are BJP supporters. A video, in which Hasan can be seen urging people not to buy anything from shops owned by BJP supporters, has gone viral on social media.

"For 10 days, one month, go elsewhere, to other villages but for solidarity with your brothers, face some hardships. Boycott these BJP people in the market. Only then things will improve. Their homes run because we buy things from them. And because of that, we are suffering," he is heard saying.

Kairana is a communally sensitive area which had hit headlines after reports surfaced in 2016 that a large number of Hindu families were leaving the area due to the fear of communal violence. Muslims constitute more than 60 per cent of the population of Kairana.

Hasan's controversial statement is seen as a response to the alleged lynching incidents and harassment of minorities and dalits in the state under Yogi Adityanath government. 

Records of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) show that Uttar Pradesh continues to be the hub of harassment of minorities and dalits. The state alone has accounted for 869 of the 2,008 cases, where minorities or dalits were harassed, registered between 2016 and 2019.