Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Sunday said the government would consider banning entry of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy into the state after his reported remark that "mosques are mere buildings and can be demolished."
"His comments are completely insulting for a community. We will take action. If he continues to talk like this, we will ban his entry into Assam," Gogoi said on the sidelines of a function in Jorhat. Noting that Swamy has been making controversial comments, Gogoi wondered why the BJP was not taking any action against him.
Meanwhile, the Assam Police has registered an FIR against Swamy at Latasil police station in Guwahati under relevant sections of the IPC on a complaint filed by Chatra Mukti Sangram Samiti, the students wing of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS).
KMSS has demanded immediate ban on Swamy's entry into the state "so that there is no communal tension in Assam." Cutting across political lines, various organisations and parties have condemned remarks of the senior BJP leader.
All Assam Students' Union (AASU), All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU), All Bodoland Minority Students' Union (ABMSU) along with other student bodies strongly condemned the remarks and burnt effigies of Swamy and Assam BJP president Siddhartha Bhattacharya in Guwahati and Kokrajhar.
In a damage control mode, Bhattacharya said Swamy's comments are "his personal views and the party does not endorse them". "We will also inform the central leadership about his comments," he added.
Swamy, who was on a personal visit to attend an event of a university in the state last week, had reportedly said that mosques and churches are mere "buildings" to offer prayers.
"So there is no problem in demolishing them. They demolish mosques even in Saudi Arabia," he had said. Swamy also said that only temples are the places where God lives in.
He stoked another controversy when he said that there was no need to get emotional over giving a portion of land to Bangladesh under the Land Boundary Agreement.
"If the Assamese people are so sentimental about the issue, then they should sit back at their homes and shed tears," he had reportedly said.
Swamy also had suggested to Assamese people to write to the Prime Minister if he had promised not to hand over land to Bangladesh under the land swap deal during Lok Sabha election campaign last year.
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