Azam questions conspicuous silence of RSS, VHP over Bukhari

Rampur(UP), Nov 28: Controversial UP minister Azam Khan renewed his attack on Jama Masjid's Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari alleging he was hand-in-glove with Hindu outfits which were "silent" on his son's marriage to a Hindu though they were vociferously raising the issue of "love jihad".

His comments have come a day after Bukhari said in Kanpur that "cows were being openly slaughtered" in Rampur, Azam's Assembly constituency, and no one was raising voices against it due to the fear of the SP minister.

Bukhari claimed that the ruling Samajwadi Party will have to face a drubbing in the 2017 Assembly elections if its controversial leader Azam is not removed. Azam told reporters last night, "Why they are keeping mum when Shahi Imam's son solemnised marriage with a Hindu girl while it were these brigades which shouted furiously against love jihad.

The senior Samajwadi Party leader alleged that the Hindu outfits are hand-in-glove with the Shahi Imam. "Since they knew that son of the Shahi Imam would be crowned Shahi Imam in future, they maintained silence issuing clear indication that Imam happens to be a member of their own saffron family," Azam said.

He said that had it been someone else, the outfits would have protested. "Had someone else committed that act, unimaginable situation might have emerged.

But, since a person who had garnered votes for BJP by occupying a comfortable seat in 'Shine India' bus there were no dissenting voices because Imam was a part and parcel of their agenda," he said. Azam also expressed hope the like in the Imam's case, the saffron outfits will not protest against any inter-religious marriage in the future.

"In future, if such solemnisations are repeated those should be treated as acceptable with happy gestures," he said. Two days ago, Azam had described Bukhari as an RSS agent in Mainpuri.

"If my son had married a Hindu girl, there would have been a storm in politics. But when Bukhari's son marries a Hindu girl, the RSS remains silent," he said. Meanwhile, Bukhari claimed that the ruling SP will have to face a drubbing in the upcoming polls, if Azam is not removed.

Bukhari in a letter to SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said that if Khan is not removed, then he will protest against the party in the next elections.

Speaking at a private function in Kanpur yesterday, Bukhari noted that people belonging to all religions can live happily in Uttar Pradesh, only when Khan is removed from office. The Shahi Imam, who had often locked horns with Khan, a state cabinet minister, said that the latter was responsible for the poor state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh.

PTI