"I welcome the decision of the Keshav Ramlila Committee to burn the cockroach effigy here.
It's a symbol of anarchy, filth, 'laal salaam', Naxalism, jihadism, appeasement, traitors, and the corrupt who have united against the nation.
Right across from the stage stood four towering effigies, ready to be set ablaze: Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Meghnad, and a 30-foot cockroach.
Repeatedly labelled a "symbol of filth" by Mishra and other speakers on stage, the cockroach effigy had already sparked controversy in the run-up to the event.
The Ramlila, organised by the Shri Keshav Ramlila Committee, headed by BJP's Model Town MLA Ashok Goel Devraha, had been in the news for the past week after the organisers announced their decision to burn an effigy of the insect.
"I welcome the decision of the Keshav Ramlila Committee to burn the cockroach effigy here. What is this cockroach? It's a symbol of anarchy, filth, 'laal salaam', Naxalism, jihadism, appeasement, traitors, and the corrupt who have united against the nation. The way we burn the effigy of Ravana to eradicate evil, the cockroach symbolises the ideologies that we need to eradicate," said Kapil Mishra, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Cabinet Minister in the Delhi government, as he addressed hundreds of people at a Dussehra event at the DDA grounds in Delhi's Pitampura on Tuesday, 20 October.
Right across from the stage stood four towering effigies, ready to be set ablaze: Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Meghnad, and a 30-foot cockroach.
Repeatedly labelled a "symbol of filth" by Mishra and other speakers on stage, the cockroach effigy had already sparked controversy in the run-up to the event. The Ramlila, organised by the Shri Keshav Ramlila Committee, headed by BJP's Model Town MLA Ashok Goel Devraha, had been in the news for the past week after the organisers announced their decision to burn an effigy of the insect.
