india

Updated: Oct 03, 2015 01:32 IST

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said on Friday that those who spoke against the “pink revolution” should ban beef exports as they were now in power, and alleged that they wanted to disturb the “secular” ethos of the country by raising such issues.

Yadav was speaking in the aftermath of lynching of Mohammad Ikhlaq in Dadri after villagers accused him and his family of consuming beef, an incident which has caused nation-wide outrage. Yadav stressed that “our religion and our country” allow people to live the way they want to, and respect and protect their rights.

“A rumour does not have anything in it but a lot can happen because of it. Our Constitution is based on secularism. Our schemes are all based on this principle but some forces want to vitiate the atmosphere.”

“They want to rake up such issues. These forces talked about pink revolution. We will say today - you are in government now, so ban beef exports. You should build support for banning their export,” Yadav said in an apparent reference to Modi, who had in the run-up to last Lok Sabha elections attacked the then UPA government over meat exports, saying it was encouraging a “pink revolution”.

Without naming Modi, Yadav said that those who are marketing the country abroad should consider what kind of food is eaten by the people there.

“The world where you are roaming, marketing and promoting your country, just think once what kind of food they eat from dawn to dusk. That’s why we should not interfere in each other’s way of life,” he said at a function in Lucknow.

A blame game has erupted between BJP and ruling SP in the state over the killing of the 50-year-old Mohammad Ikhlaq allegedly because he and his family had eaten beef.

Ikhlaq was beaten to death and his 22-year-old son Danish was critically injured by a 200-strong mob which barged into their house on Monday night following rumours that the family had consumed beef. Cow slaughter is banned in Uttar Pradesh.

Samajwadi Party has accused BJP of deliberately inciting violence ahead of 2017 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh as part of efforts to polarise people while BJP has termed it a failure of the state government to maintain law and order.