N Indians take pride in violating law: Lt Gov

New Delhi: Even as Mumbai's political storm refuses to die down, another anti-North India remark is raking up more controversy.

This time, Delhi's Lt Governor Tejender Khanna raised eyebrows when he said North Indians take "pride in violating the law".

Khanna said, "North Indians have no traffic sense. People in the south are disciplined on the roads and have good traffic sense. In North-West India, people take pride in breaking traffic laws. We want to instill a sense of respect, even fear for the law in the people here by proper enforcement."

"The behaviour pattern in South India is such that the people naturally stay within the limits of the law," he said.

The Lt Governor was addressing a function to launch Delhi Police's Traffic Patrol Scheme.

He added that as Lt Governor of the Capital, he has decided that efforts will be made to ensure that the citizens of Delhi treat law with respect and have a sense of fear towards overstepping the limits of law.

"Fear does not mean that there will be any high-handedness. But if the people overstep the limits, then the law enforcement agencies should not remain mute spectators and will have to take effective action," Khanna said.

Political Backlash

Political parties have reacted sharply to the remark, with Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar being the first one to slam the Lt Governor for his callous statement.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati has written to the Prime Minister asking him to sack the Lt Governor.

Information and Broadcasting Minister, Priyaranjan Das Munshi has said that any Lt Governor or any political leader will have to face consequences if they make such loose remarks.

Congress spokesperson, Jayanti Natrajan has stated that the party firmly opposes such comments.

"It is most shocking that a representative of the Union Government who happens to be in Delhi allegedly has made a remark about the behaviour of North Indians. If this is true, it is uncalled for. He should make immediate amends to it," BJP Spokesperson, Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

Meanwhile, the Lt Governor's office released a press statement denying that Khanna had ever made the comment.

"Some TV channels have seriously distorted the context and content of the statement. The Lt Governor had referred to the comparitively lower level of autonomous self compliance of traffic regulations," the statement read.

Anti-North Indians?

This is the second time in the past five days that an anti-North India remark has created a controversy in India.

A few days ago, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supremo, Raj Thackeray has launched a scathing attack on non-Maharashtrians living in Maharashtra. This time he targeted close friend and Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan.

At a meeting in Mumbai, Raj made a passing reference to the superstar, accusing him of not doing enough for Maharashtra, despite being a resident.

He alleged Amitabh Bachchan was loyal only to his home state, Uttar Pradesh. Raj also accused Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad of working only for the benefit of his own community.

Raj Thackeray had said: "When Amitabh had to contest elections, he chose Allahbad.Why didn't he choose Mumbai? He even chose to be the brand ambassador of Uttar Pradesh."

Political parties had reacted sharply to Thackeray's statement and several of them had burnt his effigy in Patna on Friday.

IN THE EYE OF THE STORM

The Lt Governor was recently in the eye of a storm over reportedly proposing that it be made mandatory for denizens to carry photo ID cards and also revalidation in the Capital of driving licences issued by other states. He later made a clarification stating that he had never said ID proof would be made mandatory and that his message had been misunderstood.