Bareilly (UP), Oct 13 Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said rioters are now observing Urs in jail, and they now know they will lose their ancestral wealth for rioting.
Addressing a teachers’ programme in Bareilly, he highlighted the importance of education, remarking that the identity of any society, state or country is based on its education system.
In an apparent reference to Ittehad-e-Millat Council founder Maulana Tauqeer Raza, Adityanath said, “Sharadiya Navratri is underway. Before 2017, whenever a festival was around, riots would have certainly broken out in Bareilly. But now, rioters are observing Urs inside the jail. Now, if anyone engages in riots, what is the price they pay? They will lose even their ancestral wealth. Uttar Pradesh is now defined by festivals, not nuisances.”
Raza is in jail in connection with violence that erupted during a rally in Bareilly last September.
According to the police, Raza gave a call for Muslims to assemble at Islamiya Inter College after Friday prayers on September 26, 2025, to protest against denial of permission by authorities for a rally in support of the ‘I Love Mohammed’ campaign.
Despite prohibitory orders clamped under Section 163 of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, a large crowd proceeded from Maulana Azad Inter College to Shyamganj Chauraha, holding placards and raising “provocative slogans” that day.
When police tried to stop the rally, the crowd turned violent.
Adityanath said Bareilly, which was earlier associated with “jhumka” (earring), is now known as “Nath Nagari” (City of Shiva), and has regained its “mythological identity.”
In Sambhal, another city which simmered with communally charged violence over a mosque survey in 2024, mafia now cowers in fear, Adityanath said.
“Sambhal, where people once feared to visit, is now bustling with activity. Fear and terror are no longer present there. Those who used to terrorise others are now themselves terrified. There are many mafia who wet their pants when they see the vehicle of the Uttar Pradesh Police,” he said.
Adityanath said that once, Uttar Pradesh led the country in education, but that changed after Independence.
“After Independence, education somehow got removed from the government’s agenda; it was ignored. This adversely affected the state’s economy and law and order. By 2017, Uttar Pradesh was facing a crisis of identity,” he said.
The BJP leader also reasserted his vow to conduct “cheating-free” examinations in the state.
“If the youth becomes capable, the first credit goes to the teacher. Our teachers are not government employees; they are ‘rashtra nirmata’ (builders of the nation) and ‘yug nirmata’ (builders of an era),” he said.
Mentioning APJ Abdul Kalam, Adityanath said, “Even after becoming the President, he used to present himself as a teacher.”
He said that a former secondary education minister in the erstwhile Akhilesh Yadav government, when asked to speak on Kakori Train Action revolutionary Ram Prasad Bismil on his death anniversary, thanked the organisers for inviting him to attend the birthday celebrations of shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan.
“This was the mindset of the Samajwadi Party,” he said.
“Those who have absolutely no connection to education. What can you possibly discuss with them? The Samajwadi Party has absolutely no connection with education,” he added.
“They never invited the poor or farmers to the chief minister’s residence. They never respected teachers. Whom did they invite to the chief minister’s residence? Gangsters, rioters, tyrants, and extortionists. That is why, when the government acts today and runs campaigns to rid the state of the mafia, the Samajwadi Party feels the most pain,” the BJP leader said.
“Not for the poor, not for farmers, not for labourers, their compassion is reserved for the mafia and criminals,” he added.
(PTI News)
