Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya set social media abuzz as he asked Hindus to “dream big” and "reconvert" Pakistanis to Hinduism.
The BJP leader also said that temples and mutts should set a target of converting people of other faiths back to Hinduism.
Speaking at the “Vishwarpanam” event at Krishna Mutt in Udupi, on Saturday, Surya said, “We should start dreaming big. We should start audaciously dreaming of the impossible and achieve it.”
And “what is dreaming big?”
“It’s not just reconverting those Muslims or Christians near our homes. It should be our priority to convert those Muslims in today’s Pakistan to Hinduism,” Surya said, adding that when it happens “we will have Pakistan back in our geography”.
“This may seem impossible today as abolishing Article 370 and constructing Ram Mandir seemed earlier,” he said.
Such ‘ghar wapsi’ drive, he said, should begin from Karnataka as the state had a history of stopping the “intrusion and invasion from Mughals and other external forces in South India”.
Coming against the backdrop of the Assembly passing the controversial Anti-conversion Bill recently, these remarks went viral on social media on Sunday.
Reacting to the remarks, Congress MLA Priyank Kharge tweeted: “If everyone has a #GharWapsi as desired by the BJP, where exactly will they fit them in the varna system or will all be considered as Brahmins by default?”
JD(S) IT wing head Prathap Kanagal took a dig at the MP’s remarks, asking whether the Anti-Conversion Bill was not a hindrance to such a move.
“Bangalore south, are you not ashamed for voting this man to Parliament. Clearly, education does not mean intellect!” wrote Twitter user Anand Srinivasan.
His comments also found support among a few. “So many are perturbed by mere mention of ghar wapsi, which means Tejasvi is doing it right,” wrote Twitter user @ChandraSirigeri.
“Tejasvi Surya is promising. He just needs to continue his hard work a(n)d gain more administrative skills. He has the possibility of becoming the future PM of India. If he does, it would be great,” wrote Nitin B.
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