SENA SLAMS AMIT SHAH OVER DELHI VIOLENCE

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Friday slammed Union home minister Amit Shah over the violence in northeast Delhi that claimed the lives of at least 38 people, in party mouthpiece Saamana, and said “hyper-nationalism and reli- gious blindness is taking the country behind by 300 years”.

“The capital is being suffocated by violence. At such a time, home minister Amit Shah is seen nowhere. This is worrying...,” the editorial stated. Taking a jibe at Shah, the party said he was campaigning during the Delhi Assembly polls but was missing when violence had struck the national Capital. “Being the home minister, Shah was distributing pamphlets during Delhi elections and took out enough time for cam- paigning. But when the entire Delhi was engulfed in the fire of violence, he was nowhere to be seen,” it said.

The Sena said had the riots taken place during the Congress government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would have immediately sought the resignation of the home minister. The editorial also mocked other BJP leaders and said that when violence erupted in Delhi, “half of the cabinet was in Ahmedabad to greet ‘Namaste’ to US President Donald Trump. “Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi appealed for peace after three days [after the violence broke out]. NSA Ajit Doval was seen interacting with people on the fourth day,” it said.

The editorial also attacked the Centre over the transfer of Delhi high court judge S Murlidhar, who was hearing cases against BJP leaders accused for triggering the violence.