A committee appointed by the Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) has recommended to “initiate legal proceedings” against BJP MP Parvesh Verma for his “false” allegations on 54 mosques in government land here.
‘Communal harmony’
The committee said the allegations targeted a particular community and tried to “disturb the communal harmony”. The committee also urged the DMC to lodge a complaint against the BJP MP with the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha as it is “clearly found that he has violated his oath of office”.
Last month, BJP MP Parvesh Verma had submitted a list of 54 mosques and graveyards, which allegedly existed in an unauthorised manner on government land across his constituency of West Delhi to Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal. He had raised the issue earlier also and on June 24, the DMC set up a five-member fact-finding committee headed by social activist Ovais Sultan Khan.
Presenting the report on Thursday at a press conference, Mr. Khan said the BJP MP was selective in his outburst. He also said they did not find any of the 54 mosques or graveyards on government land. DMC chairman Zafarul Islam Khan, said, “We understand it [the statement] was on communal lines. Election is coming and they want to talk these things so that there is polarisation and increase in their vote bank.” Mr. Ovais said they found a temple which was on a government land and the BJP MP’s posters were on it. He added that there were a lot of temples on government land and asked why the selective outrage.
The committee visited all the sites that the BJP MP had listed. Mr. Ovais said the list was compiled in such a hurry that there was one name which was repeated and in eight locations, they could not locate any mosque.
“In view of the upcoming Assembly elections in Delhi, there should be zero tolerance against those spreading hate and incitement to violence against particular communities,” another recommendation of the committee read.
