Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and former Higher Education Minister C.T. Ravi on Monday said the adoption of the “Gujarat model” would enable Uttar Pradesh, which has been witnessing communal incidents recently, to contain such flare-ups.
He clarified that a “controversial” comment he posted on Twitter on Sunday was not intended to inflame communal passion. Mr. Ravi had tweeted in reference to Saturday’s riots in Saharanpur, UP: “Only the Gujarat model, which worked from 2002 in containing their rioting elements, can work. Apply across Bharat.”
ClarificationMr. Ravi told presspersons on Monday that since 2002 “not a single (communal) incident had taken place in Gujarat as the government there had taken serious action (to control it). That was my intention behind the tweet”.
The MLA, who is a general secretary in the State BJP, told presspersons that the then Gujarat government of Narendra Modi had taken preventive measures to control communal violence by arresting more than 20,000 people.
It had clamped curfew and issued shoot-at-sight orders. Such steps, the MLA said, would help Uttar Pradesh curb communal violence. “Communal incidents recur very often in Uttar Pradesh … because of lack of strict measures taken by the government,” Mr. Ravi said. He claimed he had only suggested the “Gujarat model” to help the UP government control communal violence.
