BJP MP Vinay Katiyar (left), seen in a file photo flagging off the Ayodhya- Rameswaram express train in Ayodh... Read More

NEW DELHI: BJP MP Vinay Katiyar said today that " Muslims should not even be living in this country, they should go to Pakistan or Bangladesh", reported ANI.

Katiyar, who founded the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's ( VHP ) youth wing, Bajrang Dal, further said a bill should be introduced in Parliament that frames a punishment for those "who do not respect Vande Mataram, (and) those who insult the national flag, or hoist the Pakistani flag."

Katiyar's comment was a response to AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi demanded the framing of a law to punish anyone who calls an Indian Muslim a "Pakistani".

Without referring to Owaisi, Katiyar further said that "Muslims partitioned the country" on religious lines.

"Muslims shouldn't even be living in this country, they're the ones who partitioned this country based on their population, so why do they need to live here? They were given separate territory, they should go to Pakistan or Bangladesh, what business do they have here," said Katiyar.

Yesterday, the AIMIM's Owaisi, who was speaking in the Lok Sabha , advocated a three-year jail term for anyone found guilty of calling an Indian Muslim a 'Pakistani'.

"Even after 70 years I am called a Pakistani. Why? We rejected (Pakistan founder Mohammad ALi) Jinnah's invitation. Now I can't even hoist the tricolour at free will. Why can't there be a law just like those that apply to SC/STs?" asked Owaisi, according to Times Now.

Owasi's comments came days after Bareilly's district magistrate (DM) questioned the "trend" of "entering Muslim localities by force , raising anti-Pakistan slogans and then creating a ruckus". The DM, Raghvendra Vikram Singh, was speaking in the context of the religious violence in Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj that began January 26.

" A very strange trend has started of late. Take out processions by force through Muslim dominated localities and raise anti-Pakistan slogans. Why? Are these people Pakistani? The same thing had happened in Khailam village of Bareilly. Then stones were pelted, FIRs lodged," wrote Singh in a Facebook post that he later deleted after facing severe criticism.

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In Video: If you don't like India, leave the country: Vinay Katiyar to Owaisi