Cong, Shia cleric supporters trade charges day after attack on MLA

According to Lucknow police, Ahmad was attacked after he allegedly made remarks against Kalbe Jawwad. However, Ahmad himself has denied this. Police had later filed a complaint against unidentified persons.

Ahmad had been sent to Lucknow by the Congress as an observer for the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat.

Alleging that the attack had been carried out at the behest of Jawwad, Delhi Congress held a protest at Jantar Mantar, burning effigies of Jawwad and Rajnath Singh.

“Jawwad is a BJP agent, who is attempting to mislead the Shia community. The attack too was a part of this,” Mehdi Majid, Hasan Ahmad’s younger brother and a Congress member, said.

Delhi Congress spokesperson Mukesh Sharma denounced the attack and said, “Such incidents of violence are dangerous for the democratic principles on which our country is based. A dangerous and potentially life-threatening attack such as this needs to be investigated.”

Last week, Rajnath Singh had met Jawwad and assured him that the issue of the Shah-e-Mardan karbala at Jor Bagh will be settled. Jawwad, who had welcomed the assurance, had later clarified that he did not officially endorse the BJP, though he urged Shia
Muslims to not vote for the Congress.

Jawwad has been at the forefront of the agitation demanding the settlement of the karbala land issue that is a result of a long-running dispute between members of Anjuman-e-Haideri and the owners of Rajdhani Nursery, which functions from the karbala land. The trust alleges the nursery had encroached the Waqf land near the karbala with the help of a prominent Congress leader.

“The Congress has realised that due to their actions in Delhi, they have lost an entire community of voters. And now that elections are on, they are trying to salvage their position,” Syed Bilal Hussain, member of the Anjuman-e-Haideri Trust said.