Bhaiya controversy is like the Black issue in US: Manish Tewari

New Delhi, Feb 18: Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari on Friday criticised Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi for his 'UP de bhaiye' remark, and said the row was 'like the Black issue in the US.'

"The Bhaiya controversy is like the Black issue in the US . It is reflective of an unfortunate systemic & institutionalised social bias against migrants stretching back to the inception of the Green Revolution," Tewari tweeted.

"At a personal level Despite my mother being a Jat Sikh & my father being the foremost exponent of Punjab - Punjabi- Punjabiyat who laid down his life for Hindu- Sikh amity because of my Sir name it is said behind my back ' Eh Bhaiya Kithon Agha' peppered with the choicest expletives in Punjabi - We have to root it out," he said.

"Such thinking should have no place in the Secular ethos of Punjab grounded in the idiom - Manas Ki Jaat Sabhe Ek Pechan," he further said.

In a video that surfaced on social media, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi was seen beside Channi, clapping when he made the remarks during the roadshow.

"Priyanka Gandhi is the daughter-in-law of Punjab," Channi had said, adding that "Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi de bhaiye" won't be allowed to enter the state.Reacting to the "bhaiya" remark, PM Modi said at his rally, "The Congress always makes people of one region fight against another region for their own gain." In Patna, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also slammed Channi.

"This is nonsense. I am appalled at how people can say such things. Does he not know how many people from Bihar live there (in Punjab) and how much they have served that land," he said.

AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed the comment "very shameful".

Channi on Thursday said his comment had been "twisted" and lauded migrants for their contribution to the state's development.

Channi took to Twitter after coming under attack from several leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who referred to the remark at his election rally in Punjab's Abohar and in Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

The remark was apparently aimed at Aam Aadmi Party leaders, but "bhaiya" is considered a derogatory term for migrants from UP and Bihar who work in Punjab.