Clarifying his stand on “total boycott” of a particular community, BJP Lok Sabha MP from West Delhi, Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma told The Indian Express that he only meant to boycott the families of those individuals who were responsible for the death of a 25-year-old youth, identified as Manish. “What I said was that the families whose members carry out such killings should be boycotted. Such families, if they run any restaurant or business, should be boycotted. There have been such crimes in my area also. And in such cases, their business should be boycotted,” Verma was quoted as saying to IE.

Addressing a large gathering, Verma on Sunday created a huge row when he asked his supporters to completely boycott a particular community, without mentioning any name, at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Hindu Mahasabha event in Delhi. Asking his supporters to stop buying anything from the community, Verma said that a “complete boycott” on them was the only way to “fix their head.” The event, which witnessed several hate speeches targeting a particular community, was purportedly organised after the stabbing of a man in Delhi’s Sunder Nagri locality.

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“Wherever you see them, if you want to fix their head and the state of affairs – there is only one solution — boycott these people all together. Do you agree?,” asked Verma. To which the crowd said, “Yes, we do.” Verma then went on to add, “Then say it along with me — we will boycott them completely, we will not buy not buy anything from their shops, we will not pay them any wages. Do this thing — this is the only solution.” As Verma sought the crowd’s response, the people gathered in the rain could be heard repeating all his demands.

“They keep selling vegetables from their carts, you don’t need to buy from them. You don’t need to buy fish and meat from their shops. We should approach the MCD [municipal corporation] to shut their shops if they don’t carry any license,” Verma further said.

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Tweeting a video from his speech, Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA from Loni, Nand Kishor Gurjar, who was also a speaker at the same event, called for Hindus to be united and reportedly said, “Sunder Nagri and Nand Nagri have become the area for pigs. The Arvind Kejriwal government is bringing trains filled with lakhs of jihadis from Myanmar and Bangladesh to the national capital in a bid to secure their votes.”

Tagging Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Asaduddin Owaisi, Hyderabad MP and AIMIM supremo, shared clip from Verma’s speech, wrote, “BJP-RSS MP is taking oath to boycott Muslims in an open meeting in the capital of the country. RSS’s Mohan Bhagwat had said that false fear is being spread among Muslims. The truth is that the BJP has started the war against Muslims. Delhi CM and @amitshah days have kept their silence.”

“Untouchability was abolished under Article 17 of the Constitution. and his conduct in any form was prohibited. If the ruling party MP can do this in the capital of the country, then what is the value of the Constitution?,” Owaisi further asked.

Tagging PM Narendra Modi and asking Delhi Police to take immediate action, Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed tweeted, “BJP MP Parvesh Verma orders the people of Delhi to financially boycott Muslims. Will Delhi Police act against this man for inciting hatred amongst communities? Does PM Modi condone this speech? Is this what BJP meant by Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas! Speak up.”

Meanwhile, a senior police official told news agency PTI that no complaints have been made regarding the matter, adding that the videos connected to the speeches made at the event will be thoroughly examined.