Justice Markandey Katju’s sarcastic comments suggesting Pakistan should take Bihar also if it wants to take Kashmir, has offended a number of people from the state. In a facebook post Katju said, “Pakistanis, let us end our dispute once and for all. We offer you Kashmir, but on the condition you also take Bihar. It is a package deal. You have to take the whole package or none at all. Either you take both Kashmir and Bihar, or nothing. We will not give you Kashmir alone. Deal?”. He even jokingly said that then India Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had offered the same “deal” to then Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf but he “stupidly rejected it”.
Three soldiers from Bihar had lost their lives in the attack by four Pakistani terrorists at Uri in Kashmir on September 18. Not may people appreciated Katju’s joke, some even suggested that instead of Bihar, Pakistan should take Katju to their country. Here are what some of them commented on the former judge’s post.
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To those offended with his statement, Katju even offered a piece of advice: “I have a recommendation to make to all of you who were offended by my last post. Please immediately file a petition in the Supreme Court praying for banning jokes about Biharis. There is already a petition pending in the Supreme Court for banning Sardarji jokes ( after all the Supreme Court has a lot of time to deal with such frivolous matters, and little time to deal with urgent cases ). So get your petition tagged with the Sardarji one. It would be a pleasant sight for spectators to see Sardars and Biharis jostling together in the Courtroom. And it would be best for both Sardars and Biharis to extend the prayers in your petitions and pray for banning all joking by anyone in India, and a long term of imprisonment for those violating the order. Na rahe baans, na baje baansuri. Hari Om”.
