BJP's Yogi Adityanath Praises Donald Trump's Immigration Ban, Says India Needs It

BULANDSHAHR:  BJP lawmaker Yogi Adityanath has praised US President Donald Trump's immigration ban from seven Muslim-majority countries - criticized worldwide - and said such action is needed to check terrorism in India. In more controversial comments, he has also backed claims of a Hindu "exodus" from parts of western Uttar Pradesh and warned that the region could soon "become another Kashmir".

Addressing a rally in Bulandshahr, the saffron-robed lawmaker referred to Mr Trump's measures and said: "Similar action is needed to contain terror activities in this country."  The Gorakhpur lawmaker also alleged that Hindus were being terrorized in western Uttar Pradesh like "Kashmiri Pandits were terrorized and forced to flee the Kashmir Valley". The situation was especially bad, he claimed, in Muzzafarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut and Ghaziabad. He blamed it on the policies of the ruling Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's BSP.

"What happened in Kashmir in 1990...the same is going to happen in UP," the lawmaker said.

"BJP is committed not to let this happen anymore. We have lost Kashmir Valley, but we cannot let western Uttar Pradesh to become second Kashmir," he added.  Last year, BJP parliamentarian Hukum Singh alleged that Hindu families are leaving Muslim-dominated Kairana because of threats and attacks after riots in 2013 in the area, and listed more than 300 families who had reportedly fled the town.

Both the Samajwadi Party and BSP have rubbished the claim, saying it is an attempt to polarise the region for votes.  Kairana is around 50 km from Muzaffarnagar, where over 60 were killed and thousands displaced in riots in September 2013, months before the national election,

Though its lawmaker has failed to prove his charges, the BJP has included Kairana in its manifesto for UP.

"District collectors will be held accountable for migration of people due to communal strife," BJP chief AMit Shah said while releasing the manifesto, promising to set up teams that would check such "exodus."

The BJP, Mr Shah said, is convinced that reports of Hindu families migrating from Muslim-majority towns in western UP are true.