OPINION: Unemployed youths are not rioters

To say the least, this comment by Azam Khan is an insult to the lakhs of unemployed youths of the country.

AFP PHOTO / REPRESENTATIONAL

New Delhi: Adding spice to communal tones veteran Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on Tuesday said that the central government should provide jobs to the majority community (Hindu) in order to curb incidents of riots in the country. Azam Khan appealed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide jobs to the youth. "I have been constantly demanding that the jobs be provided only to the youth of the majority community so that they get involved in work, get tired and shun arms," he said and added that it will help bring an end to youth taking up flags and indulging in riots. To say the least, this comment by Azam Khan is an insult to the lakhs of unemployed youths of the country. If someone is unemployed that doesn't mean that he will get involved in anti-social activities. Watch: SP leader Azam Khan says unemployed Hindu children give fire to riots and violence  I personally do not endorse flag rallies but at the same time, I also do not support the action that a youth is shot dead just because he was part of a rally! Verbal attacks on other religion/community must not be done. Well, Azam Khan isn't the only one. He has been given tough competition in this filed by BJP's Sardhana MLA Sangeet Som. It may be recalled that he had said that the Taj Mahal was built by an emperor who had imprisoned his own father and targeted many Hindus in his kingdom. "Is this history that the person who built the Taj Mahal imprisoned his father? Do you call it history when the one who built the Taj targeted many Hindus in Uttar Pradesh and Hindustan?", he questioned, reported PTI. Addressing a gathering at Sisoli village after inaugurating a statue of 8th-century king Anangpal Singh Tomar, Som had said invaders of India have been glorified in history. Invaders who wanted to wipe out Hindus built the Taj: BJP MLA Sangeet Som Following the tunes, BJP MP Vinay Katiyar had also stoked a controversy by saying Taj Mahal will soon become Tej Mandir. When Vinay Katiyar was asked about the 'Taj Mahostav' being held in Agra, the MP told ANI, "Call it Taj Mahotsav or Tej Mahotsav both are the same things. There is not much difference between Taj and Tej. Our Tej Mandir has been turned into a cremation ground by Aurangzeb. Taj Mahal will be converted into Tej Mandir soon." "It is a good thing that a festival is being organised but this Taj Mahal is not the one that existed during the time of Aurangzeb. It was our temple," he added. I personally believe that politics and religion should never be mixed because doing politics by using religion or community card is always harmful. It sets a chain reaction which is very difficult to stop. To read other OPINION pieces, interviews by Anurag Kumar CLICK HERE About the author: Author Anurag Kumar is an Associate Producer in ABP News Network Pvt Ltd and tweets at @AnuragSason Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.