Patna (Bihar): Senior Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui has triggered an unseemly controversy by allegedly saying that he has told his two children to get jobs and citizenship in foreign countries but not India. Siddiqui reportedly told this to his children keeping in mind the environment in which Muslims are living in India.
A video containing controversial remarks of Siddiqui has gone viral on social media. Speaking at an event in Bihar last week, Siddiqui said, "the atmosphere in India has been such that I’ve asked my two children, a son who is studying at Harvard University and a daughter who has passed out of the London School of Economics, to take up jobs there and if possible, get citizenship there."
Siddiqui further added, "don’t know whether my children will be able to bear the atmosphere here. You can understand how painful it is for a man to tell his children to leave their motherland. But such a time has come." A video showing Siddique asking his two children to settle abroad is doing rounds on social media. He made this controversial statement during an event organized to felicitate senior JDU leader Devesh Chandra Thakur.
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BJP has responded strongly to Siddiqui's statement. Nikhil Anand, BJP spokesperson said, "The one who does not trust India and its constitution is a traitor. Those who enjoy all the privileges of India and want to settle abroad can go to Pakistan." On the other hand, Tejashwi Yadav, Deputy Chief Minister of the state said, "I have not heard what Abdul Siddiqui said, but he has rightly said, the situation in the country is not good at this time."
