Meerut, Oct 7 (IANS): After a 'jagran' singer Dharmendra Pandey called upon Hindus to prepare to take up arms, it is now former BJP MLA Sangeet Som who has given a similar call.

Som, while speaking at a Dusshera function organised by the 'Rajput Utthan Sabha', said that the population of only a particular community was increasing and the Rajput community would need to take up arms in future to stop this.

"We have to be concerned about whose population is increasing. Our population is decreasing, but population of one community is increasing. It is possible that in future we would need to take up arms, when there is terrorism all around.

"We will need to pick up arms to stop 'Sar Tan Se Juda' (beheading) and terrorism threats," he added.

The former MLA further said that when the Rajput community picks up arms no one would dare to raise the threat of 'Sar Tan Se Juda' and create terrorism.

He also targeted the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kerala, alleging that only green flags were hoisted in the rally, and hardly any national flag was used.

Som, a two-term former MLA from Sardhana Assembly segment in Meerut, is considered a Hindu hardliner and named in many cases related to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.

The Justice Vishnu Sahai Commission which was formed after the riots named him in the list of those responsible for the flare-up.

He kicked up a controversy in 2015 when he called for the arrest of the family of Mohammed Akhlaq, who died in the Dadri lynching incident and promised bail for the accused in the case.

He lost in the 2022 Assembly election by a margin of more than 18,000 votes to Samajwadi Party candidate Atul Pradhan.