BJP Karnataka tweets video asking Muslim women voters to keep documents ready for NPR; Twitter slams party for 'stupidity'

The BJP’s Karnataka unit on Saturday drew condemnation after it shared a video on Twitter of Muslim women queuing up at a Delhi poll booth. The caption to the video said in a sarcastic vein,"‘Kaagaz Nahi Dikayenge Hum’! Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during #NPR exercise. #DelhiPolls2020".

"Kaagaz Nahi Dikayenge Hum" ! ! !

Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during #NPR exercise.#DelhiPolls2020 pic.twitter.com/bEojjeKlwI

— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) February 8, 2020

Incidentally, the Karnataka BJP’s remark flies in the face of the government’s stated position that NPR enumerators will not ask for any documents for the NPR exercise. As recently as 4 February, a Press Information Bureau release quoted Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai as saying that “no document is to be collected during the exercise; Aadhaar number is collected voluntarily.” The caption appears to refer to the ‘Kagaz Nahin Dikhaenge’ slogan that has been raised by those protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act. This is also the title of a poem on the same issue by lyricist and comedian Varun Grover . Several people on Twitter pointed out the contradiction between the assertion in the tweet and the government’s stated claim.

Either BJP Karnataka knows something that Amit Shah and his ministry doesn’t or are they completely stupid? 🤔@PIBHomeAffairs, please clarify. pic.twitter.com/DR7SAmDXYB

— SamSays (@samjawed65) February 8, 2020

Even Amrita Bhinder, a vocal supporter of the BJP and a former member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha criticised the tweet, saying, “Not done! Adds to the fear factor! Derails PM Modi’s pitch. Please be sensible.” On the other hand, some appeared to agree with the BJP’s sentiment. One Twitter user, Dalip Pancholi said, “Who are these Muslims with no conscience? Till yesterday, they were saying ‘we will not show papers’. Today, they stand in line with their identity papers in hand.”

ये कैसे मुसलमान हैं जिनका ईमान ही मुसल्लम नहीं है, कल तक नारे लगा रहे थे कागज नहीं दिखाएंगे और आज हाथों में कागज लिए लाइन लगाकर खड़े हो गए भई😂#DelhiPolls2020 pic.twitter.com/9nE0tjEXaX

— दलीप पंचोली🇮🇳 (@DalipPancholi) February 8, 2020

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This is not the first time that the Karnataka BJP’s Twitter handle has been under a cloud of controversy. Recently, the handle had tweeted about an Amazon delivery receipt for razors that the unit allegedly sent to Omar Abdullah after images of his unshaven face under Kashmir lockdown went viral. The tweet was later deleted.