Maharashtra’s minorities commission on Saturday called for the arrest of Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy for his “extreme xenophobic right-wing thoughts” expressed in a newspaper article.
State Minorities Commission vice-chairman Abraham Mathai wrote to Mumbai police chief Arup Patnaik, urging him to initiate criminal charges against Swamy under Section 153 (A) of the Indian Penal Code. “I am writing to you following uproar and a feeling of insecurity among the minority community caused by an article written by Dr. Subramanian Swamy entitled 'How to wipe out Islamic terror’ published in the DNA of 16th July 2011,” the letter said. Swamy, a doctorate from Harvard, penned an op-ed that advocated denial of voting rights to non-Hindus with the goal of stemming terrorist attacks in India.
“The extreme xenophobic right-wing thoughts expressed in it are quite disturbing and the article is socially irresponsible and completely anti-Islamic. It is also alarming that Dr. Swamy is trying to incite Islamophobia using his freedom of expression to propagate hate through stereotyping,” Mathai said. Mathai also said that there are “Hindu terrorists” as well in jails who have equally perpetrated heinous acts.
“As a matter of fact, the Muslim community has as much stake as any in the progress, security and well being of India as a nation. Dr. Swamy’s bizarre solution is converting Muslims into Hinduism, rather than allowing each individual to choose to live as he/she wishes as expressed in Article 25 of the constitution,” he said.