Senior BJP leader and former legislator Vikram Randhawa has publicly urged authorities to peel off the skin of female students of a medical college in Srinagar for supporting Pakistan’s recent victory against India in a T20 World Cup match.

Some see the BJP leader’s remarks as a diversionary tactic at a time the business community in Jammu is seething with anger against a host of central government decisions that has badly hit them. They also fear that outsiders are encroaching upon their domain after the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was scrapped.

Randhawa made the comments during a media conference in Jammu on Sunday. They triggered a protest in Jammu’s Rajouri district on Monday and led to calls for registration of an FIR for hate speech but no action was taken till the evening.

The BJP leader, who was accused in 2019 by Leh journalists of trying to bribe them for a coverage in the parliamentary elections, hit out at Kashmiris and Muslims, some for supporting Pakistan and the others for offering prayers at public places.

“Whoever is involved in it (cheering for Pakistan), each one of them should be caught and their skin should be peeled off. They should meet such a fate that future generations will know what it means to raise slogans against India or support some other kafir (infidel) country,” Randhawa, who was previously a member of the legislative council, told reporters.

“I can assure you that the Centre has taken a strong note of it and there will be a serious action.”

He added: “These 22-23-year-old maidservants move in burqas in Jammu but were waving their jackets chanting ‘Pakistan zindabad’ slogans.”

The BJP leader said their degrees would be cancelled, and he urged the authorities and cancel their citizenship.

“(So much so) that even their parents should realise what kind of kafir children they have produced. They are yet to be born, are just 20, 21 or 22, and are singing praises for Pakistan. The agencies are aware of it and it won’t be taken casually,” he said.

Jammu lawyer Sheikh Shakeel Ahmad asked the police to file an FIR against Randhawa for hate speech.

“Mr Randhawa has abused our daughters, mothers and sisters…. (The police) should take note that we have Section 153 A of the Indian Panel Code… against people who spread hatred between communities, hurt religious sentiments and create fissures between communities,” Shakeel said in a video appeal.

“No action taken against an ex-BJP MLA who calls for genocide of Kashmiris and to skin them alive. But J&K students are charged with sedition for merely cheering the winning team. India is surely the mother of all democracies,” tweeted former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.