Samajwadi Party's Azam Khan to raise Dadri lynching at UN
Speaking to reporters in Lucknow, the senior Uttar Pradesh minister said the RSS and the BJP must tell the nation what they expect to do with Muslims who form 18 per cent of the overall population.
Senior Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan on Monday said he will raise the lynching of 50-year-old Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri last week with the United Nations.
"I have written a letter to the UN Secretary General explaining the condition of Muslims in India today and seeking his intervention. I have sought to know what will be the position of Muslims in India today," Khan told reporters in Lucknow, a day after he escorted Akhlaq's family to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's residence.
Also read: Dadri lynching too minor a incident for PM to speak, says Modi minister
"The Prime Minister is raising local issues at international forums, so we will also raise the rising communal violence cases with the UN," Khan told reporters in Lucknow, appealing to PM Modi to control the people "spreading the poison" of communalism.
Khan said the issue of beef is being politicised ahead of Bihar elections. "The entire agenda of Bihar elections has now changed. There is no talk of development. Anyone can kill someone who is being accused of cow slaughter," he said, adding, "No one dared attack Justice Katju for his remarks on beef since he was a non-Muslim."
"The central government issues licenses to five-star hotels which serve beef and pork. Why doesn't the government cancel their licenses?" he asked.
The Samajwadi Party leader also accused the ruling BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), of organising planned attack against Muslims in the country. "I am given to understand through newspaper reports that the RSS was planning a big massacre of Muslims in India which could not happen because the media was vigilant," he said.
Also read: BJP accuses Akhilesh Yadav of giving communal colour to Dadri incident
"The RSS and the BJP must tell the nation what they expect to do with Muslims who form 18 per cent of the overall population," Khan said in remarks that intensify the war of words between various political parties over the lynching of Akhlaq and attack on his son Danish last week over rumours that their family had consumed beef.
A number of BJP leaders have visited the restive village in Greater Noida's Dadri area, where prohibitory orders have been ordered to prevent further violence. Eight people, mostly said to be related to a local BJP leader, have been arrested for the killing.