Act against BJP leaders over Dadri comments, Akhilesh urged

Lucknow, Oct 5: A lawyer on Monday urged the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister to take action against BJP leaders, including a legislator and a Sadhvi, for communal and inciting statements over the Dadri incident in which a man was lynched for allegedly eating beef.

In his complaint, lawyer Shehzaad Poonawala urged Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to "order penal action" against BJP legislator Sangeet Som, Sadhvi Prachi as well as union minister Sanjiv Baliyan for their " hate-inciting and communally-venomous statements". Poonawala said they were "out to destroy" the communal harmony in the state.

Sadhvi Prachi, in the aftermath of the September 29 Dadri lynching, reportedly said that "people eating beef deserved such fate", while Sangeet Som, who is also one of the accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, was quoted as saying that the "law should be equal for all, or else we are capable of replying like we did in the past".

This, the complainant alleged, was a reference to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots in which 63 people were killed and more than 50,000 were displaced.

Union Minister of State Sanjiv Baliyan was also quoted by a TV channel as saying that "if UP government doesn't stop cow slaughter, there can be more such (Dadri kind) violent incidents", Poonawala told the chief minister.

A representation for action against the BJP leaders has been sent to Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police Jagmohan Yadav and the union home ministry.

IANS