NEW DELHI, March 17: The grandson of late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was facing criminal charges on Tuesday for allegedly inciting violence against Muslims while campaigning for next month’s general election.

Varun Gandhi reportedly told a rally that his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would “cut the head of Muslims”.

According to footage aired by the NDTV news channel, Varun Gandhi also said Muslims “have scary names like Karimullah, Mazullah” and that “if you meet them at night you will be scared”.

India’s Election Commission said it had reviewed his speeches and had ordered he face “criminal charges” in Uttar Pradesh state, where the speech was given, for stoking sectarian tensions.

An Election Commission official said an official warning was also to be issued to the BJP.

Varun’s comments were criticised by the ruling Congress party, which is headed by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of Indira’s eldest son Rajiv, and the torchbearer of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Varun is the son of Indira’s second child Sanjay, a side of the family that was disowned by the dynasty. The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has no blood relation to Mahatma Gandhi.

A Congress spokesman accused the BJP of being a party with an anti-minority ideology. A BJP spokesman, however, insisted that “the traditional culture of BJP can never teach a person to speak so irresponsibly”. In his defence, Varun said the recordings of his speeches had been tampered with.—AFP
Tags: