Secularism Doesn't Mean Being Obsessed With One Religion: Yogi Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today accused the previous governments in the state of discrimination based on caste and religion and said that secularism does not mean being obsessed with one particular faith. The chief minister also claimed that due to vote bank politics, patriots like Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan and Abdul Hamid did not find their due place in textbooks.

During a discussion in the UP Legislative Council, he alleged, "If we are really secular, then this doesn't mean we should be obsessed with one particular community."

Attacking the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, he alleged the previous governments in UP had divided the society on the basis of caste and religion. "Our government believes in 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'. There is no caste or religion for us," he said.

He also expressed concern over the exodus of youth from the state. Our government will ensure they get respectable jobs in the state, he said. "Technical and vocational education along with skill development training will be imparted, so that 7-10 lakh youngsters can be given jobs."

He also advised the opposition not to view the Governor's address from a political prism as he didn't belong to any political party. Governor Ram Naik was bombarded with paper missiles by opposition members on the first day of the state assembly session.

Terming law and order as a major challenge, he said that when criminalisation of politics and politicisation of criminals take place, a "peculiar" situation arises. "Our government will establish the rule of law and take strict action against criminal elements," he said.

The chief minister advocated revival of student union elections. "The elections to students' unions should take place, but as per the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Commission. It will be good, if all the universities and colleges conduct the elections within a week's time," he said.

"A system should be put in place, where the students can from an open platform declare who deserves to be elected and the non-deserving person will automatically be out," he said.

We are also going to convene a meeting soon to decide a uniform syllabus for higher education, he said.

The chief minister reiterated that his government was committed to waive farmers' loans and that the government will start a joint venture to enhance regional air connectivity in different cities.

He announced that 30,000 constables and 2,000 sub inspectors will be recruited. "There is no place for corruption in UP. In the previous regimes there had been anomalies in police recruitment," he said.

He also took a dig at SP, saying during its rule, the uniform that schoolchildren wore resembled the dress of home guards. "Our government will give new uniforms to the children in the new academic session," Yogi Adityanath said.