'Goli Maaro Saalon Ko’: Union minister Anurag Thakur stokes controversy

New Delhi, Jan 27: A video showing Union Minister Anurag Thakur leading a crowd with the slogan "Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko," a chant inciting listeners to shoot "traitors to the country", went viral on Monday.

Addressing an election rally in Delhi, the union minister reportedly chanted "Desh ke gaddaron ko..." while clapping his hands over his head, to which the crowd replied with "Goli maaron saalon ko" chants (taken together, the chants translate to "shoot the traitors of the nation").

The slogan used by Thakur is frequently raised by right-wing organisations. Earlier this month, BJP leader Kapil Mishra, now also a candidate in the Delhi Assembly elections scheduled for February 8, was caught on camera shouting the slogan.

The Delhi unit chief, Manoj Tiwari, had reportedly said neither he nor the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supports such remarks.

The video gains importance amid recent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

The citizenship law offers Indian Citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis and Buddhists, but excludes Muslims-a decision that BJP's critics have objected to.

The critics argue that CAA along with the contentious National Citizen Registry could be used to target the country's Muslim population.