Himachal Pradesh lynching: Azam Khan steps up attack on BJP

Lucknow, Oct 18: Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan today condemned the lynching of an alleged cow smuggler in Himachal Pradesh and dared Haryana and Punjab governments to ban sale of the animal.

The Samajwadi Party leader, who had launched a scathing attack on Modi Government after the Dadri lynching incident, questioned why such a ban has not been imposed on sale of "prohibited animals", including at fairs, and instead "those involved in transporting" of the animals were being targeted.

"If only these cattle sellers and governments should feel ashamed of their deeds," he said in a statement.

28-year-old Noman Akhtar, a resident of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was lynched by a mob on October 16 while his four accomplices were apprehended by police with the help of local people after nearly four hours of chase of the truck carrying ten oxen and five cows in the forests in Sirmaur district, about 150 km from Shimla.

Khan also cited an article published in RSS mouthpiece 'Panchajanya' and said the country was heading fast towards anarchy.

The RSS mouthpiece in its cover story has said that the killing of Mohammad Iqlakh in Dadri over beef consumption rumours could not have been "without reason" and even the "Vedas mandate killing of those who slaughter cows".

The article has made the policy of the organisation very clear, Khan said. "In their words India is an undeclared 'Hindu Rashtra' and those hurting faith of Hindus will have meet the same fate of losing their lives," he alleged.

"From this divisionary mentality, it is clear that the law of the land is in the hand of those who wield lathis and swords," the minister alleged.

Khan also raised the issue of detention of Patel quota leader Hardik Patel, who had threatened to stage protests during the India-South Africa one-day international match in Rajkot in Gujarat.

He said, "I want to tell the intellectuals of the country and especially those fighting for human rights that these fascist forces have taken contract of violating human rights in Gujarat."

"The manner in which instead of holding talks with the leader of a deprived class, they are even being denied ticket for sports events is not only violation of human rights, but also a tactic by fascist forces to stop them from speaking the truth. We also condemn it," he said.

Khan said the country would not be in a position to face the world if such incidents are not checked and Prime Minister fails to control his workers "from forcing their ideology on others".

PTI