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Maharashtra minister Abdul Sattar drew flak from opposition parties on Thursday after a video showing him purportedly asking police to 'break the bones' of unruly audience members during a dance show organised on his birthday in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district went viral.
The incident took place on Wednesday night in Sillod town when popular Lavani dancer Gautami Patil's performance was underway.
Sattar, who belongs to the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, represents the Sillod assembly constituency and holds charge of the Minority Development department.
The video showed Sattar giving instructions to police using a microphone from the stage. The clip also showed police lathi-charging some viewers.
Gautami Patil has a large fan following in the state, especially in rural areas, and a large number of people attended the dance show.
But as the viewers went berserk and chaos prevailed, Sattar took the mic in hand. In the video, he can be seen initially appealing to the viewers to sit down, but as the situation failed to improve, he instructed the police to start hitting them with batons.
"Those indulging in drama, beat them like dogs...Baton-charge the people at the back. Beat them so much that the bone of their bottom is broken," he is heard asking the police.
Addressing a person in the crowd, Sattar asked, "Has your father ever seen such a programme? Are you a demon? You are the son of a human being, so behave like one and watch the programme. Sit down and enjoy the show."
Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Ambadas Danve, who belongs to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, slammed Sattar.
"The kind of language Sattar used suits his culture and this has also been accepted by the Shinde faction and the BJP that are ruling the state," he said.
The Congress also took exception to the minister's language.
"The more shocking part is that Sattar asked the police to beat people like dogs, break their backs.... Is Abdul Sattar a minister or a goon? Will chief minister Shinde show the courage to take action against him?" asked Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe.
Since the Shinde government came to power in the state, arrogance of the ministers and MLAs and MPs of the ruling parties has increased, he alleged.
Asking whether police were being used to provide security for a minister's birthday party, Londhe said Sattar was not fit to be a minister, but Shinde and deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar do not have the courage to take action against him.